THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


SAINT  AUGUSTINE, 

FLOEIDA. 


SKETCHES    OF    ITS    HISTORY,    OBJECTS    OF     INTEREST,    AND 

ADVANTAGES     AS     A     RESORT    FOE    HEALTn 

AND     RECREATION. 


BY     AN    ENGLISH    VISITOR. 

/  • 


■WITH     NOTES     FOR     NORTHERN     TOURISTS     ON     ST.     JOIIN's 

RITER,  ETC. 


PRINTED    FOR 

E.  S.  CARR,  St.  Augustine- C.  DREW  &  CO.,  Jacksonville,  Fla. 

NEW  YORK: 

G.    P.    PUTNAM    &    SON. 

1869. 

ay 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  In  tbo  year  1SC8,  by 
E.    S.    0  ABB., 

In  the  Clerk's  Oflico  of  the  District  Court  of  the.  United  States  for  the 

Southern  District  of  New  York. 


I  HI     mOW    I    SMITH 

II  *M   HI    II    II...    i  mMIMNV, 
C,   N.    V. 


5\  1$^ 


SAINT  AUGUSTINE. 


A    SKETCH    BY    AN    ENGLISH    VISITOR. 


Saint  Augustine,  the  most  ancient  town  of 
North  America,  is  situated  in  Florida,  upon  a 
narrow  slip  of  land  formed  by  the  St.  Johns  river 
on  the  one  side  and  the  ocean  upon  the  other. 

Florida  was  discovered  in  1512  by  Ponce  de 
Leon,  a  companion  of  Columbus ;  one  of  the  en- 
terprising ad  venture rs  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

At  that  period,  when  the  love  of  the  marvel- 
lous still  held  its  sway  equally  over  the  lettered 
as  over  the  untutored  mind,  there  was  a  story 
prevalent,  that  away  north  beyond  the  West  In- 
dian Islands  there  wras  a  land  of  Elysium,  rich 
with  fruits  and  flowers,  and  possessing  a  river  in 
whose  waters  flowed  the  Elixir  of  Life,  conferring 
perpetual  youth  and  beauty  on  whomsoever 
should  lave  in  or  drink  of  them.  Inspired  by 
this  brilliant  legend,  and  in  hopes  of  making  a 
discovery  which  should  far  outreach  that  of  Co- 
lumbus, Ponce  de  Leon  set  sail  from  Porto  Rico, 
and  coming  in  sight  of  the  Peninsula  of  Florida, 
and  landing  near  the  present  site  of  St.  Augus- 
tine in  April,  it  is  no  wonder  he  believed  he  had 
realized  the  fable  of  the  promised  land  in  this 


O50098 


SAINT    AUGUSTINE. 


Elysium  of  constantly  renewed  bliss  of  youth 
and  beauty.  For  nothing  could  look  more  like  a 
paradise  than  Florida  in  April.  Then  he  beheld 
ii  bathed  in  balmy  light,  redolent  in  fruit,  flowers, 
and  sunshine.  Nut  only  flowers,  shrubs,  and  un- 
dergrowth by  millions  were  in  bloom,  but  the 
very  forest  trees  till  the  air  with  the  fragrance  of 
their  blossoms.  The  palmetto  spreads  its  fanlike 
leaves  to  waft  the  breeze,  the  date  palm  waves 
\{-  majestic  plumes  in  the  translucent  blue  air, 
and  the  feathery  acacia  and  chaporell  tremble  to 
the  gentle  kiss  of  wooing  zephyrs. 

The  magnolia  reflects  the  glowing  sunshine 
upon  its  glossy  leaves  and  contrasts  its  creamlike 
flowers  with  the  radiant  scarlet  of  the  pome- 
granate. The  golden  oranges  hang  in  tempt- 
ing clusters  among  their  fresh  green  leaves,  while 
here  and  there  peep  out  their  scented  blossoms. 

The  lilies,  in  their  grace  and  purity,  as  of  old, 
put  to  shame  u  Solomon  in  all  his  glory:" 
sleeping  on  the  placid  water,  cushioned  on 
relvet  leaves,  or  dancing  in  the  air  highly  sus- 
pended 0D  their  spiral  stems,  or  humbly  hiding  in 
mossy  nooks  and  fairy  dells;  then  appearing  as 
the  impi  rial  oriflamme,  the  Fleurde  Lis  of  France, 
clothed  in  royal  purple  <>r  gorgeous  as  the  scarlet 
trumpet  lilv,  dazzling  with   its  glory. 

.Net    only  the  lilies    bloom    perennially   in   this 

ivered  land  of  Ponce  de  Leon ;  the  eglantine, 

in  its  tender  embrace  of  all  whom  il  can  reach,  ihe 


SAINT    AUGUSTINE.  5 

rose,  the  verbena,  and  jessamine  entwine  their 
fragrance  and  their  foliage.  The  vine  clings  with 
delicate  tendrils  round  every  projecting  rugged 
trunk  that  needs  a  shade. 

The  "  best  loved  West  Wind  "  sighs  through 
the  pine  barrens  with  a  sweet  and  hallowed 
tone,  like  the  voices  of  our  loved  and  lost  ones 
whispering  us  from  the  Spirit  Land.  The  red- 
bird  radiates  prisms  of  light  from  his  flaming 
wing,  and  when  the  heavens,  which  are  always 
blue,  are  bespangled  with  stars,  the  air  is  filled 
with  showers  of  tire-flies  dashing  to  and  fro  like 
brilliant  heavenly  messengers,  skimming  and 
floating  on  the  vast  expanse  of  ethereal  vault.  If 
they  are  not  angels,  Ponce  de  Leon  might  have 
taken  them  for  such,  bearing  to  earth  glad  tidings 
from  their  celestial  home  above,  illuminating  the 
orange-groves  ;  lighting  up  the  dark  cypress  and 
ancient  cedars,  hung  with  sepulchral  moss,  as 
though  the  wood  nymphs  and  forest  sprites  were 
holding  high  carnival.  All  this  and  more  than 
this  of  beauty  that  pen  fails  to  describe,  Ponce 
de  Leon  must  have  beheld  when  he  landed  in 
Florida  in  April.  It  may  be  seen  to  this  day  by 
every  visitor  to  this  enchanting  spot. 

He  might  easily  have  pictured  in  the  semi- 
lake-like  wafers  of  the  St.  Johns  river  the  reali- 
zation of  his  clay  dream,  the  Elixir  of  Life. 

Flowing  soft  and  silvery  through  bankless 
flats  of  luxuriant  foliage,  draped  with  the  funereal 


6  SAINT    AUGUSTINE. 

moss  hanging  from  the  evergreen  oak,  or  the 
pine  and  orange  alternate  laving  in  its  brim: 
new  spreading  out  to  a  placid  lake  where  the 
stately  pelican  floats  at  lonely  leisure — anon  clos- 
ing in  to  the  limits  of  a  stream,  every  leaf  and 
spray  reflected  in  its  clear  bosom,  and  the  pink 
crane  in  solemn  meditation.  The  waters,  haying 
a  soft,  sweet  taste,  might  well  have  been  mistaken 
by  Ponce  de  Leon  for  Elixir,  and  doubtless  he 
drank  it  by  the  quart  in  the  true  American  fashion. 
But  alas!  the  proof  of  the  pudding  was  in  the 
eating,  or  drinking  in  this  case :  he  grew  neither 
young  nor  handsome.  Qui  sa  ?  as  the  natives  say, 
if  this  may  not  be  the  original  cause  of  the  great 
quantity  of  water  consumed  by  Americans:  even 
now  they  grow  not  younger,  but  considerably 
yellower;  for  quarts  of  ice  water  and  pounds  of 
hot  bread  would  destroy  the  beauty  of  Venus 
herself 

Thus  Ponce  de  Leon  became  disgusted 
with  his  paradise,  and   finding  the  native  Indians 

fierce  and  implacable,  he  returned  to  Spain  a  dis- 
appointed man. 

In  his  hopes  and  aspirations  he  was  fol- 
lowed by  other  Spaniards, Narvaez  and  DeSoto. 

Bui  thefirel  permancnl  settlement  was  effected 
by  the  French  in  the  reign  of  Charles  the 
Ninth,  alter  the  Sainl  Bartholomew  and  during 
the  <  'olignj  t  roubles. 

'the  Huguenots  obtained   permission  t<>  exile 


SAINT    AUGUSTINE.  7 

to  America,  where  they  are  still  traceable  in  some 
of  the  Southern  States,  who,  nevertheless,  in 
their  own  hour  of  discord  and  disunion,  did  not 
allow  those  who  dissented  to  retire,  but  rather  to 
force  them  by  pains  and  penalties  to  succumb  to 
the  new  established  order  of  affairs.  So  true  it  is 
that  those  who  have  been  oppressed  are  ever  the 
first  to  turn  oppressors.  And  this  fact  should  act 
as  a  warning  in  the  present  emancipation  of  slaves. 
The  French  had  scarcely  enjoyed  the  results 
of  their  freedom  and  their  labors  in  building 
a  fort  near  Saint  Augustine,  when  Menendez, 
the  Spanish  commander  arrived  from  Spain,  with 
powers  to  take  possession  of  Florida  and  govern 
it  in  the  king's  name.  He  surprised  the  Hu- 
guenots by  night,  and  entered  the  fort  during  a 
heavy  thunder-storm.  They,  never  anticipating 
any  attack  save  by  sea,  had  left  their  fort  on  the 
land  side  almost  unguarded,  and  were  most  of 
them  butchered  in  their  sleep.  Some  few  escaped 
into  the  woods,  but  were  eventually  obliged  by 
famine  to  surrender.  They  were  given  their 
choice  to  renounce  their  faith  or  meet  their  death. 
They  unanimously  chose  the  martyr's  fate,  and 
were  butchered  in  cold  blood,  "  Dying  as  their 
fathers  died,  for  the  faith  their  foes  denied." 
Their  exile,  toil,  and  labor  had  not  saved  them 
from  the  fate  of  Coligny ;  they  had  flown  from 
their  homes  in  France  only  to  rush  into  the  jaws 
of  Spanish  Inquisitors, 


8  SAINT     AUGUSTINE. 

The  escutcheon  of  Menendez,  the  great  Span- 
ish commander,  is  traced  in  blood,  and  the  foun- 
dation-stone of  Saint  Augustine  which  he  laid  is 
saturated  with  the  gore  of  these  brave  and  un- 
daunted victims  to  religious  tyranny  and  persecu- 
tion. 

Blood  having  been  so  cruelly  spilt  at  the  bap- 
tism as  it  were  of  Saint  Augustine,  seems  to  have 
llowed  freely  through  its  walls  and  towers  for  three 
centuries  of  its  history.  For  it  has  been  watered 
with  its  own  blood  from  its  very  birth  to  its 
hoary  age,  more  than  any  city  on  this  continent. 
It  lias  Buffered  more  ravages  of  fire,  sword,  and 
famine  than  any  other  city,  and  its  inhabitants 
have  acknowledged  more  foreign  rulers  and 
various  flags  than  any  other  city. 

It  is  necessary  to  bear  this  in  mind  in  form- 
ing any  opinion  of  the  present  occupants  of 
Saint      AugUSt'me.      Indeed,    in     coining     to     any 

ethnological,  metaphysical  or  moral  conclusion  as 
to  American  character,  il  is  essential  to  note  the 
various  causes  which  have  tended  to  populate 
this  vast  and  magnificent  country. 

It  is  not  a  country  thai  has  been  conquered  or 
overrun  by  a  stronger  people.  The  native  Indiana 
have  retired  before  the  white  man,  leaving  little 
trace  behind.     Prom  the  earliest  dale  we  find  it 

the   Banctum    <>l     those   brave    men    driven     from 

their  homes  by   persecution— of  the  Huguenots, 

who    had    Bealed    their   belief    with    their   heart's 


SAIXT     AUGUSTINE.  9 

blood.  The  dauntless  followers  of  Ribault,  the 
first  settlers  of  this  little  colony,  were  the  heroic 
victims  of  another  St.  Bartholomew.  Historians 
disagree  about  the  number  Avho  fell,  but  it  was 
doubtless  from  three  to  four  hundred. 

Religious  and  political  persecution  at  home, 
have  both  tended  to  establish  this  great  Nation 
more  than  any  other  cause. 

But  for  that,  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  would  never 
have  landed  on  the  wild  New  England  shore,  nor 
the  gallant  Cavalier,  South  Carolina  and  Virginia. 
Nor  would  the  Irish  and  Germans  have  found 
their  way  to  the  prairies  of  the  "West,  save  for 
political  persecution  at  home. 

The  penal  laws  against  the  Irish  in  the  last 
and  beginning  of  the  present  century,  have  been 
a  prolific  cause  of  immigration,  and  have  done 
more  to  depopulate  Ireland  and  colonize  Western 
America  than  any  other  cause. 

But  where  a  man  lives  under  a  ban  and  is 
branded  for  his  religious  or  political  opinions  for 
years ;  where  the  future  is  robbed  of  those  ra- 
diant tints  which  so  dazzle  and  delight  in  our 
forward  gaze,  which  make  anticipation  the  secret 
charm  of  our  existence,  the  guiding  star  and  lead- 
ing  magnate  which  drives  us  on  to  exertion, 
stronger  effort  and  enterprise — when  hope  folds 
her  wings  and  sits  brooding  under  the  spurning 
feet  of  persecution — the  human  heart  casts  abroad 
in  search  of  a  spot  where  it  may  be  free;  free  to 


10  SAIXT     AUGUSTINE. 

expand  and  glory  in  its  thoughts  and  aspirations; 
free  to  worship  in  a  temple  or  on  the  mountain- 
top.     Such   a  spot  was  found  in  the  benignant 
continent  of  America.    She  lay  with  her  fair  wide 
bosom  open  to  take  in  all  who  mourned  and  were 
afflicted.     To  gather  them  in  her  genial  embrace, 
and  make  them  welcome  to  her  fold.     The  per- 
secuted patriot,  loving  his  country  more  than  his 
own  happiness,  borne  down  in  his  zeal  to  stem 
the  purple  tide  of  tyranny  and  usurpation;  the 
religious  enthusiast,  braving  the  faggot   and   in- 
strument of  torture  for  a  conscientious  principle 
of  faith,  and  bidding  defiance  to  inquisitors  and 
hell's  power  to  pain,  rather  than  relinquish  the 
right  to  worship  from  his  heart's  pure  inspiration; 
the  woe-begone  1 1- 1 — 1 1   mother,  with  her  brood  of 
Starvelings;     the    Milieu    father,    whose    spirit    is 
nigh  crushed  t<>  bitterness  and  evil  from  the  long 
weighl  of  his  wrongs  ;  the  timid  young  girl,  whose 
early  lines  of  beauty  are  mingled  with  those  of 
care — all  come  trooping  with  eager  steps  to  the 
Land  of  the  Free.    To  the  land  of  corn,  and  fruits 
and  flowers.    To  the  land  of  every  clime,  of  every 

Bky;  every  temperature  for  every  race.  To  all 
who  are  overburdened  and  oppressed  she  extends 
her  snowy  arms  from  the  tops  of  her  giant  Rooky 
Mountains,  and  steps  oul  on  her  Californian  feet, 

clad  in  sandals  Of  gold,  to  give  them  welcome. 
She  spreads  her  llower-enaniellcd  lap  over  vast 
prairies   to   the  weary  and  worn;   and  the  shelter 


SAINT    AUGUSTINE.  11 

of  her  pine  forests  to  each  and  every  one.  God's 
mercy  goeth  not  ont  of  reach,  and  his  dew  falls 
on  the  feverish  eyelids  of  those  who  weep. 

To  the  toilsome,  patiently  enduring  German, 
driven  at  last  to  bay  by  tyrannical  exaction  on 
his  down-trodden  liberty,  she  offers  her  glowing 
homesteads,  with  independent,  healthful  labor — 
her  waving  corn-fields  and  lowing  kine,  wood 
and  water  in  reach  of  every  hand ;  her  seas,  hav- 
ing a  thousand  miles  of  coast,  cast  up  their  ma- 
rine fruits  and  store  with  prodigal  munificence. 

Beautiful,  generous  laud,  offering  every  gift 
to  man  that  man's  heart  can  rightly  desire. 
Surely  Ponce  de  Leon  might  have  been  satisfied 
with  his  portion  of  the  discovery. 

Such,  howevei',  is  human  nature.  He  had  set 
his  affections  upon  a  particular  object,  viz.,  youth 
and  beauty  a  perpetuete, ;  and  not  realizing  that, 
all  the  rest  seemed  unavailing  to  satisfy  this 
craving. 

The  same  thing  happens  to  this  day  on  the 
same  spot,  where  the  sweet  and  bitter  orange 
still  abound.  The  fig,  peach,  lemon,  and  pome- 
granate refresh  the  eye,  and  cool  the  palate. 
Northern  travellers  are  grumbling  every  day 
because  they  cannot  procure  dirty  tap-water,  and 
purchase  lake  ice.  Ice-water  is  an  American 
mania,  an  anti-hydrophobia  sort  of  disease  ;  and 
it  is  quite  certain,  if  there  is  not  a  good  sup- 
ply  of  ice-water  in   heaven,  they  will    all   peti- 


12  SAINT    AUGUSTINE. 

tion  St.  Peter  to  be  allowed  to  return  to  New 
York. 

They  all  repined  because  Wenham  Lake  ice 
could  not  be  raised  in  Florida;  every  other 
growth  was  in  vain.  Ponce  de  Leon  being  dis- 
gusted because  the  water  did  not  perpetuate 
youth  and  beauty,  was  yet  less  unreasonable  than 
these  Northern  travellers. 

Hence  youth  and  beauty  a  perpetuetb,  cam  not 
be  offered  as  one  of  the  productions  of  Florida. 
Nevertheless,  we  can,  on  the  authority  of  the 
historian  from  whom  we  have  obtained  the  datea 
and  facts  relating  to  this  portion  of  the  country, 
go  so  thv  as  to  state  that  at  the  period  of  the 
evacuation  by  the  Spaniards,  numbers  of  the  in- 
habitants left  the  city  who  were  over  one  hun- 
dred years  of  age  ;  and  there  still  lives  in  the 
town  of  St.  Augustine  a  uegro  who  is  said  to  be 
one  hundred  and  eighteen. 

Apropos  of  beauty,  where  all  nature  is  so 
lovely,  it  would  be  an  anomaly  for  human  nature 
to  form  an  exception. 

As  regards  all  those  adjuncts  which  make  our 
exterior    life    enjoyable,    Florida    abounds    in    a 

larger  share  than  any  (liniate  I  have  \isilcd; 
and   St.  AugUStine,  with   her   cool   sea  bneze   and 

cl Hess  sun,  is  doubtless  the  Eden  of  Florida. 

Had  Ponce  de  Leon  only  had  the  good  fortune, 
like  his  greal  forefather,  to  espy  an  Eve  mirror- 
ing  i  i  r  elf  in  the  blue  waters  of  the  bay,  and 


SAINT    AUGUSTINE.  13 

enamored  of  the  reflection,  be  would  no  doubt 
have  followed  suit  and  not  only  proclaimed  it  a 
paradise  but  inhabited  by  Peris.  So  it  is  that 
"  Man  never  is  but  always  to  be  blest."  He,  find- 
ing the  Indian  squaws  the  reverse  of  Venuses,  and 
the  men  more  like  unto  Mars,  returned,  we  are  told, 
disconsolate  to  Spain.  In  1580,  shortly  after  the 
death  of  Menendez,  St.  Augustine  was  attacked 
by  the  celebrated  English  Admiral,  Sir  Francis 
Drake.  But  alter  some  ineffectual  attempts  to  dis- 
lodge the  Spaniards  from  the  fortifications  which 
they  bad  established  there,  he  abandoned  the  siege, 
and  sailed  on  his  voyage. 

About  this  period,  the  Franciscan  missionaries 
came  to  this  country,  with  the  purpose  of  Chris- 
tianizing the  natives.  They  settled  in  St.  Augus- 
tine, where  they  built  the  first  church  at  the  In- 
dian village  of  Talmato,  where  the  burying-ground 
remains  to  the  present  time,  most  interesting  to 
visit,  from  the  old  Spanish  tombs  which  remain 
almost  perfect.  They  are  constructed  of  the 
Coqitina  stone  or  shell,  and  bear  a  strong  resem- 
blance to  some  of  the  Egyptian  sarcophagi  or 
stone  coffins.  Some  of  them  were  cut  out  from 
a  solid  piece,  the  lid  consisting  of  a  large  slab. 
Some  were  put  together  in  slabs  and  partly  buried 
in  the  earth.  It  is  also  interesting  as  the  site  of 
the  first  martyr  to  religious  zeal,  the  first  Fran- 
ciscan monk.  This  order,  the  rivals  of  the  Jesuits, 
in  pioneering  Christianity  and  civilization,  were 


14  SAINT    AUGUSTINE. 

indefatigable  in  their  endeavors  to  civilize  the 
Indians,  and  for  some  time  apparently  succeeded. 
But  there  Beems  to  be  something  in  the  nature  of 
the  red  men  of  the  forest  which  bids  defiance  both 
to  religion  and  cultivation,  and  is  incompatible 
with  either. 

Three  centuries  have  now  well  nigh  elapsed, 
of  continued  effort ;  but  the  Indian  tribes  remain 
as  wild  ami  primitive  as  the  trees  of  their  own 
forests. 

It  was  in  vain  that  the  Padre  Corpa,  the  fore- 
most <>f  the  missionary  band,  rejoiced  in  the  con- 
version of  one  of  the  chiefs  with  all  his  tribe. 
Having  dared  to  lecture  his  new  convert 
upon  the  unchristian  number  of  his  wives,  his 
a  was  passed.  IK' was  barbarously  murder- 
ed at  the  loot  of  his  own  altar,  as  lie  was  prepar- 
ing to  celebrated  mass,  by  the  chief  and  his  tribe, 
the  devoted  Padre  stipulating  in  his  sublime 
agony  only  for  Buffii  ienl  time  to  perform   the  Ber- 

.  whieh  was  accorded,  his  executioners  1\ 
around  whilsl  he  prayed  for  their  forgiveness  fu- 
tile last  time,  and  gloating  over  their  prey  like 
famished  wolves,  and  glaring  upon  him  with  tin} 
eyes  of  the  hyena.  No  sooner  was  t  he  service  con- 
eluded  and  he  turned  to  give  them  his  benedic- 
tion, than  they  rushed  up  him  and  tore  him  limb 
from  limb,  bis  head  beingtbeonly  portion  of  him 

r  found  by  his  lu.'i hren. 

This  act   alone  was  in  itself  a  startling  pi-oof 


SAINT    AUGUSTINE.  15 

that  no  sentiment  of  Christianity  had  ever  enter- 
ed their  savage  breasts  and  in  all  probability 
never  would.  The  spirit  of  Christianity  is  in- 
comprehensible to  them. 

The  devoted  missionaries,  however,  were  not 
of  this  opinion.  They  steadily  pursued  their  sa- 
cred calling,  building  over  twenty  churches  and 
mission-houses  through  Florida.  Their  head 
house,  the  Franciscan  Convent,  is  now  the  hand- 
somest building  in  St.  Augustine,  having  been 
renovated  and  turned  into  a  barrack  for  the 
Union  troops.  It  is  still  claimed  as  the  property 
of  the  Church,  and  the  matter  is  one  of  intermin- 
able litigation.  The  next  handsomest  building  is 
the  Convent  of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy,  which  has 
recently  been  erected.  The  castle  or  fort,  the 
most  picturesque,  was  built  in  1G20,  principally  by 
the  forced  labor  of  the  Iudians,  who,  for  sixty 
years,  were  compelled  to  work  as  servants  to  the 
Spaniards.  This  is  more  than  the  Americans  have 
ever  been  able  to  make  them  do,  even  for  them- 
selves ;  for  the  Indians  consider  it  an  indignity  to 
labor;  and,  up  to  the  present  day,  neither  argu- 
ment, persuasive  or  forcible,  has  had  the  effect  of 
inducing  them  to  live  otherwise  than  in  the  com- 
plete  simplicity  of  unsophisticated  nature.  They 
will  neither  construct  nor  provide  for  the  future. 
They  will  live  upon  the  produce  of  the  land,  as 
provided  by  nature,  and  upon  the  animals  which 
come  within   their  power  to   destroy  for   food. 


16  SAINT     AUGUSTINE. 

Any  thing  which  we  call  improvement  and  culti- 
vation,  they  are  averse  to ;  and  when  pressed  upon 
them,  they  retire  further  and  further  back  to  their 
fastnesses  and  mountains,  hut  cannot  he  brought 
to  adopt  the  ideas  of  the  white  man,  or  amalgamate 
with  him  in  social  intercourse.  These  were  the 
primitive  inhabitants  of  St.  Augustine,  then  under 
the  name  of  Talmato,  when  the  Spaniards  first  took 
possession. 

In  1665,  the  town  of  St.  Augustine  was  again 
besieged  and  captured,  in  spite  of  the  castle  and 
fort,  which  was  then  octagon  and  flanked  by 
round  towers,  still  in  existence. 

This  time  the  unfortunate  little  town  was  cap- 
tured and  destroyed  by  an  English  buccaneer, 
cruising  upon  his  own  account,  in  search  of  booty 
and  adventure. 

Upon  these  occasions,  which  appear  to  have 
been  not  anfrequenl  at  poor  St.  Augustine,  it  was 
the  custom  of  the  inhabitants  to  retire  into  the 
fortress,  carrying  with  them  all  their  household 
-"<"is  which  were  portable, and  leaving  the  town 
to  the  mercy  of  the  invaders,  or,  in  other  words, 
t"  he  ransacked  and  destroyed.  It  would  there- 
fore be  diffioult  to  determine  at  what  precise  pe- 
riod any  particular  part  of  St.  Augustine  was 
built. 

A  ft  ir  the  retiring  of  the  buccaneer,  the  un- 
happy inhabitants  were  besel  by  the  sea  on  the 
other  side,  against  whose  encroachments  they  were 


SAINT    AUGUSTINE.  17 

obliged  to  build  a  sea-wall,  the  remains  of  which 
are  still  visible  on  Bay-street,  much  within  the 
limits  of  the  present  one,  constructed  at  a  much 
later  date,  and  now  the  fashionable  promenade, 
being  about  four  feet  broad,  and  extending  the 
whole  way  from  the  fort  to  the  barracks — a  dis- 
tance of  more  than  a  mile.  Admitting  only  of 
two  abreast,  it  is  naturally  the  favorite  resort  of 
lovers,  who  thus  enjoy  the  sea-air  and  the  pic- 
turesque little  bay. 

In  1681,  the  famous  "Friend,"  William  Penn, 
obtained,  from  Charles  II.  of  England,  a  grant  of 
land  in  Florida,  which  he  strove  to  colonize — 
it  is  to  be  hoped,  from  his  principles  and  char- 
acter— by  other  means  than  by  fire  or  sword,  like 
most  of  the  colonizers  of  this  period.  He  did  not 
interfere  with  St.  Augustine. 

But  in  1702,  England  being  at  war  with  Spain, 
the  colonies  seized  this  opportunity  to  have  another 
skirmish  with  little  Spanish  St.  Augustine.  The 
English,  under  Governor  Moore,  once  more  took 
possession  of  the  town,  driving  the  inhabitants 
into  the  fortress,  which  resisted  the  attack  of  the 
enemy.  After  remaining  and  devastating  the  place 
for  a  month,  they  were  frightened  away  by  the 
appearance,  in  the  offing,  of  two  ships,  which  they 
mistook  for  Spanish  men-of-war.  They  at  once 
prepared  to  decamp,  and  marched  overland  to 
Charleston,  a  distance  of  three  hundred  miles, 
burning  all  that  was  combustible  before  leaving. 
2 


18  SAINT    AUGUSTINE. 

The  vicissitudes  of  the  picturesque  little  town 
seem,  about  1712,  to  have  been  varied  by  a 
famine,  owing  to  the  non-arrival  of  the  vessels 
from  Spain,  carrying-  the  usual  supplies  upon 
which  they  depended  for  their  support.  So  that, 
after  one  hundred  years'  settlement,  they  were 
still  unable  to  supply  themselves  with  the  neces- 
saries of  life,  in  a  land  abounding  in  fish,  fowl, 
game,  fruit,  and  vegetables.  Still  stranger  to  re- 
late, at  the  present  time,  a  century  and  a  half 
later,  almost  every  thing  is  supplied  from  the 
north,  and  northern  energy  and  capital  furnish 
much  that  is  produced  on  the  spot. 

Spaniards  were  never  good  colonizers,  and 
rarely  did  more  than  simply  stagnate  upon  the 
country  they  took  by  conquest  or  otherwise. 
The  dolce  far  niente  is  still  prevalent  in  St.  Au- 
gustine to  the  present  time;  and,  having  once 
bad  their  orange-groves  destroyed  by  some  acci- 
dental frost,  which  had  lost  its  way  and  come 
there,  they  consider  iliis  a  sufficient   reason  for 

never  planting  or  grafting  any  more.  But  war's 
Waste  and  ravages  were  not  at  an  end  for  St.  Au- 
gustine, and  seem  never  to  have  been;  for  at 
the  period  of  the  late  war  of  Secession,  she  had  to 

change  hands  three  time-. 

In  I  "725,  a  party  under  Col.  Palmer,  from  Char- 
leston, made  another  incursion — the  town  falling 
a  prey.  They  burned,  killed,  and  destroyed,  and 
then  departed.     Again,  eight  years  later.  Ogle- 


SAINT    AUGUSTINE.  19 

thorpe  laid  siege  to  the  place  in  regular  form, 
planting  his  batteries  upon  the  island  of  Anastasia, 
and  bombarding  both  fort  and  town  therefrom. 
This  was  the  most  formidable  siege  which  St. 
Augustine  had  ever  sustained,  and  it  lasted  several 
months — the  enemy  having  at  length  to  retire, 
leaving  the  fort  uncaptured.  Previous  to  this,  the 
fort  had  been  put  in  a  thorough  state  of  defence. 
The  ramparts  had  been  heightened,  bomb-proof 
vaults  constructed,  entrenchments  thrown  up,  and 
ravelins  projected.  The  fort  then  presented  a 
formidable  appearance,  and,  although  upon  a 
small  scale,  it  was  considered  as  impregnable  as 
any  in  Europe.  Events  realized  this  supposition  ; 
for  although  Gen.  Oglethorpe  was  considered  one 
of  the  greatest  commanders  of  that  day,  and 
although  he  displayed  great  talent  and  perseve- 
rance, sparing  no  expense  or  eifort,  the  fort,  then 
called  San  Juan,  withstood  him,  and  although  sub- 
jected to  more  than  a  score  of  attacks,  it  never 
once  yielded  or  fell  into  the  hands  of  its  besiegers. 
With  the  exception  of  again  laying  the  town  in 
ruins,  and  nearly  starving  out  the  garrison  and 
inhabitants  refuged  in  the  fort,  amounting  to 
2,500,  Gen.  Oglethorpe  was  no  more  successful 
than  his  predecessors,  and  had  finally  to  abandon 
his  position. 

In  spite  of  this  failure,  he  with  true  British 
pertinacity  made  a  detour  by  land,  some  two 
years   later,  and   appearing   with   a   large   army 


20  SAINT    AUGUSTINE. 

before  the  fort,  with  drums  beating  and  flags 
flying,  dared  the  garrison  to  come  out  and  give 
battle.  The  Spaniards,  believing  "  discretion  to 
be  the  better  part  of  valor,"  and  choosing  to  leave 
well  alone,  declined  the  challenge:  and  the 
haughty  general  had  ignominiously  to  walk  back 
again  to  Charleston.  Reflection  would  doubtless 
come,  on  the  300  mile  road,  for  British  foot  was 
never  set  within  the  brave  little  fort  until  it  was 
ceded  by  treaty  in  1763. 

Slavery,  even  at  this  early  period,  was  showing 
itself  the  apple  of  discord  of  this  distracted  land. 
The  excuse  or  pretext  for  these  continual  attacks 
was  the  accusation  that  the  Spaniards  inveigled 
and  retained  slaves  belonging  to  the  British,  and 
they  stormed  the  place  with  a  view  of  recovering 
them.  Slavery  was  also  the  actual  cause  ofthe 
long  Floridian  war  which  desolated  the  country 
for  so  many  years.  And  Slavery  has,  alas,  del- 
uged  not  only  Florida  hut  the  who!.'  of  tliis  fair 
continent  in  blood.  Pray  heaven  thai  this  hydra- 
headed  monster  in  this  last  great  Struggle  has 
bled  itself  to  death.     Its  history  in  peaceorwar 

is  written  in  human  blood,  not  alone  of  the  soldier 

who  perished  at  his  post,  to  enforce  barbarous 
laws,  or  the  wild   Indian  dyeing  with  his  heart's 

hi I    the   green  leaves  of  his  hummuok,  but  of 

helpless  woman,  Bcrecohing  oul  her  sad  story  un- 
der the  lash  of  the  tyrant.     One  breathes  more 
ly  this  delicious  air,  to  know  that  these  atro- 


SAINT    AUGUSTINE.  21 

cities  are  at  an  end  for  ever ;  to  believe  that  the 
worm  corroding  at  the  heart  of  the  fairest  land  of 
God's  creation  is  destroyed  ;  that  the  great  skele- 
ton looming  over  her  youthful  beauty  has  crum- 
bled to  ashes,  and  that  now  she  may  ripen  to 
maturity  and  perfection. 

It  is  only  just  to  say  that  Florida  and  St. 
Augustine  prospered  more  under  the  20  years 
which  followed  of  British  possession  and  rule, 
than  she  had  done  in  the  two  hundred  years  of 
their  predecessors. 

The  exports  in  indigo  and  turpentine  rose  to 
forty  and  fifty  thousand  pounds  yearly. 

There  was  no  question  now  of  starving  to 
death  in  a  land  of  plenty,  as  had  been  the  case 
under  the  Spaniards.  Barely,  however,  had  the 
English  obtained  peaceable  possession,  and  St.  Au- 
gustine began  to  prosper,  before  the  Declaration 
of  American  Independence  took  place,  and  placed 
them  at  daggers  drawn  with  the  United  States ; 
and  the  town  was  again  made  the  point  cVappui 
for  the  British  forces  against  the  American,  and 
it  was  still  her  destiny  to  be  kept  in  a  state  of 
trouble  and  warfare. 

IV 84  saw  this  province  of  Florida  re-ceded 
to  Spain  in  pursuance  of  treaty  between  the  two 
countries. 

The  singular  mixture  of  the  inhabitants  at 
this  time,  and  the  strange  confounding  of  tongues, 
must  somewhat  have  resembled  Babel.    English, 


22  SAINT    AUGUSTINE. 

Spanish,  French,  American,  Indian,  African, 
inust  have  formed  a  curiously  heterogeneous  com- 
pound— a  real  pot-pourri  of  nationality. 

Until  1812  the  country  continued  to  be  har- 
assed by  the  Americans  constantly  yearning  for 
more  territory.  The  King  of  Spain  came  to  the 
sage  conclusion  "  que  le  jeu  nc  vallait  pas  la 
chandelle,"  that  the  colony  cost  more  than  it 
was  worth.  He  sold  it  to  the  United  States  for 
so  many  millions  of  dollars. 

PRESENT   CONDITION". 

Saint  vVimuistine  is  therefore  interesting  to  the 
moralist  from  its  many  and  varied  vicissitudes. 
To  the  antiquary  from  its  antique  remains  of  old 
S|i:uiisl)  customs  and  characteristics  its  narrow 
Streets, projecting  balconies  nearly  reaching  across 
and  forming  a  constant  sha<U — its  verandas  and 
remains  of  ancient  porticos.  The  old  Catholic 
Cathedral,  with  its  quaint  Moorish  belfry  and 
chime  of  bells,  which,  if  properly  played,  as  in 
the  ancient  days,  would  produce  melodious  sounds 

enough,  bu1  which  now  send  forth   the  frequent 

Call  to  prayer  by  being  rattled  with  a  Stick.  The 
AngeluS,  which  is  kept  up  in  Saint  Augustine,  as 
in  all  Catholic  countries,  where  the  touching  an- 
nouncement of  the  Angel  is  softly  pealed  three 
times  a  day,  is   here    rattled   OUt.      [f  the  Angelus 

Domini  was  as  uproarious  as  at  St.  Augustine,  the 
Virgin  would  not  have  cared  for  a  second  visit. 


SAIXT    AUGUSTIXE.  23 

On  Sundays  the  Episcopalians,  who  have  their 
pretty  little  semi-Gothic  church  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  square,  are  brought  to  a  summary  stand- 
still in  their  devotion.  The  minister  has  usually 
arrived  at  the  peroration  of  his  sermon  when  the 
rub-a-dub-dub  commences  in  the  Cathedral.  The 
congregation  cannot  hear  another  syllable  to  save 
their  souls,  and  the  ringing  or  rattling  continues 
often  for  half  an  hour. 

The  fort  is  of  course  the  chief  object  of  interest 
in  Saint  Augustine,  especially  by  moonlight,  and 
there  is  not  a  more  picturesque  place  anywhere. 
Like  Melrose,  it  may  be  said,  "  Who  would  see 
Fort  Marion  right,  should  view  it  by  the  fair  moon- 
light." Few  spots  are  more  mysteriously  ro- 
mantic. The  fort  was  built  to  command  both 
land  and  sea,  with  round  towers  at  each  corner ; 
cannon  mounted  on  the  walls  and  ramparts.  It 
is  built  entirely  of  the  Coquina  stone — a  geologi- 
cal marvel  in  itself.  It  is  formed  of  a  concrete  of 
small  shells  which  centuries  have  massed  together, 
formino-  a  hard  rock,  but  in  which  each  shell  is 
perfectly  distinct  and  visible  and  sometimes  com- 
plete as  though  they  had  been  tightly  glued  to- 
gether but  yesterday.  The  whole  structure,  upon 
close  examination,  resembles  one  of  those  toy 
shell  castles  we  purchase  for  children  at  seaports. 
Geologists  and  conchologists  can  probably  deter- 
mine how  many  centuries  it  has  taken  to  amalga- 
mate these  myriads  of  tiny  shells  into  one  solid 


24  SAINT     AUGUSTINE. 

mass  of  granite.     It  is  quarried  from  Anastasia 
Island. 

Within  the  fort  are  shown  chambers  with- 
out light  or  air,  which  are  said  to  have  been 
used  by  the  Spanish  Inquisition,  from  the  fact  of 
a  skeleton  in  chains  being  very  recently  found  in 
one  of  them.  But  unless  one  of  the  unfortunate 
Huguenots  who  escaped  the  massacre  of  Menen- 
dez  only  to  meet  a  more  agonizing  death,  there 
is  no  other  record  of  religious  intolerance.  The 
chambers  have  the  usual  appearance  of  the  vault- 
ed alcoves  formed  inside  fortifications  of  this 
period.  One  of  these  chambers  has  evidently 
been  the  chapel,  from  the  altar-stone  still  in  good 
preservation  ;  and  the  holy  water  vessel  used  for 
culinary  purposes  at  the  present  time.  Over  the 
gateway  is  the  arms  of  Spain  handsomely  carved 
in  stone  and  quite  perfect,  and  the  inscription  is 
actually  worthy  of  the  proverbial  bombast  of  the 
Spaniard  :  "Don  Fernando  being  King  of  Spain, 
and  the  Field  Marshal  Don  Alonzo  Fernando 
Herida  being  Governor  and  Captain  General  of 
this  place,  St.  Augustine  of  Florida  and  its  prov- 
inces, t  his  fort  was  founded  in  the  year  1 750.  The 
works  were  directed  by  the  Captain  engineer  Don 
Pedro  i\c  Brazos  y  Gareny."  Round  the  fort  is 
a  moat  which  can  easily  he  filled  from  the  sea,  a 
draw-bridge  and  portcullis,  with  other  handsome 
carvings  surmounting  them.  The  moat  is  sur- 
rounded   by  a   broad   diagonal   wall,  forming  a 


SAINT    AUGUSTINE.  25 

delightful  promenade,  always  swept  by  a  pleas- 
ant breeze. 

The  Atlantic  Ocean  rolls  into  a  small  bay 
formed  by  the  mouth  of  the  River  Sebastian 
and  Anastasia  Island,  whose  sloping  sands  are 
as  white  as  snow,  and  in  some  places  as  treach- 
rous,  sinking  with  the  feet  of  the  unwary  explor- 
ist  into  quicksands.  Beautiful  shells  of  all  de- 
scriptions are  to  be  gathered  on  this  beach,  and  the 
sail  across  the  bay  delightful.  The  porpoises  and 
very  good  turtles  luxuriate  in  it,  and  sometimes  a 
shark.  Plenty  of  good  fish  is  caught  in  the  bay, 
besides  abundance  of  oysters  and  crabs.  The 
fort  appears  to  have  changed  names  as  often 
as  owners,  having  been  christened  and  re-chris- 
tened San  Juan,  Saint  Mark,  and  Marion,  who 
it  is  to  be  supposed  was  a  sinner,  from  dropping 
the  title  of  Saint.  There  is  more  of  mystery  and 
romance  attached  to  it  than  any  other  place  in 
America, — probably  on  account  of  its  Spanish 
occupation. 

The  frowning  battlement  and  picturesque 
Moorish  tOAvers  from  whence  we  expect  to  see 
emerge  the  stately,  dark-eyed  Spaniard  of  Rem- 
brantish  line  ;  the  little  chapel  where  the  brown- 
cowled  Franciscan  told  his  breviary,  regardless 
of  the  shrieks  of  his  heretical  victims  in  the  ad- 
jacent vaults ;  the  land  breeze  sighing  over  the 
pine  barrens,  might  again  hear  the  rattle  of  the 
chains  and  grinding  of  instruments  of  torture, 


26  SA1XT     AUGUSTIXE. 

said  to  have  been  found  in  this  primitive  Vene- 
tian prison.  The  roaring  of  the  sea  might  recall 
the  fierce  bombardment  from  Anastasia  Island, 
striking  horror  into  the  hearts  of  the  ancient  Au- 
gustinans  huddled  together  within  the  fortress 
walls.  Visitors  linger  in  wonderment  over  the 
aperture  so  narrow,  so  high  up  in  the  stone  vault, 
from  which  the  wild  and  romantic  Indian  chiei 
Coacouehee  made  his  daring  escape.  His  history- 
is  full  of  poetry,  marvel  and  pathos.  Scarcely  had 
St.  Augustine  been  ceded  to  the  United  States  in 
1821,  when  difficulties  arose  with  the  tribe  of  In- 
dian warriors  called  Seminoles.  The  Spaniards 
and  the  English  had  lived  on  amicable  terms 
with  these  tribes,  and  allowed  them  to  retain 
peaceable  possession  of  the  best  humnmck  lands 
for  their  village. 

IM'IA.V    HlsTOKV. 

I>ut  the  number  of  new  settlers  from  the 
Onited  States  wishing  to  take  possession  of  this 
beautiful  and  desirable  land  interfered  greatly 
with  the  savage  life  of  the  Indians,  who   had   no 

idea    of  being    driven    out    of   their    forests    and 

Bwamps,  hunting-grounds  and  fishing-rivers  and 

lakes,  for  the  benelit    of  the  new  eoniers  to    grow 

tlieir  (muii  and  cotton.     Hence  feuds  arose,  which 
did   not  end  even  with  solitary  murder  and  mas- 
re,   but    brought   aboul    the    Floridian    War, 
which  raged  round  St.   Augustine  for  five  or  six 


SAINT    AUGUSTINE.  27 

years.  Treaties  were  made  to  confine  the  wild- 
man  within  certain  limits  and  boundaries.  But  the 
Indian,  having  ever  considered  this  beautiful 
country  as  specially  constructed  for  his  benefit  by 
the  Great  Spirit,  could  never  be  made  to  define 
any  limits  or  bounds  to  his  rovings  ;  and  was 
very  apt  to  help  himself  to  any  crops  or  produce 
ready  made  to  his  hand.  In  fact,  that  impossible 
problem  of  the  wild  and  civilized  man  existing  to- 
gether had  to  be  solved,  and  the  solution  could  be 
but  one,  by  the  disappearance  of  the  former. 

Coacouchee,  the  chief  of  the  Seminoles,  had 
come  under  a  flag  of  truce  to  entertain  what  they 
denominate  a  "  Talk,"  or  negotiation.  He  had 
been  retained  a  prisoner  and  confined  in  the 
Stone  Chamber,  from  whence  he  made  his  won- 
derfully-daring escape  through  a  port-hole,  drop- 
ping himself  some  fifty  feet. 

Nothing  can  justify  bad  faith  towards  any 
people ;  but  policy  and  necessity  were  the  excuses 
set  forth  for  this  unjust  detention  of  an  ambas- 
sador, as  it  were,  of  peace  —  this  abuse  of  the 
sacred  rights  of  the  fia<>-  of  truce. 

The  United  States  had  been  at  war  five  or  six 
years  without  making  any  permanent  conquest 
of  this  handful  of  erratic  men,  the  tribe  of  the 
Seminoles.  It  was  like  warring  against  the  wild- 
cat or  the  wind.  Scoured  from  the  land,  they 
sheltered  in  the  trees.  Swept  from  the  prairie, 
they  were  heard  howling  in  the  cypress  swamp. 


28  SAINT     AUGUSTINE. 

Driven  to  bay,  they  could  swiui  the  river  or  pad- 
dle their  hark  canoes  across  and  back — an  army 
would  seek  a  ford  or  construct  a  pontoon  bridge. 
Their  unerring  shots  whistled  through  the  pine 
branches,  and  their  spears,  like  the  tongues  of 
snakes,  hissed  through  the  hummucks.  There 
seemed  no  probability  of  vanquishing  them  by 
fair  and  honest  warfare.  A  pitched  battle  was  a 
farce.  There  was  no  enemy  to  be  seen  after  the 
first  round  of  musketry;  it  resembled  a  game  at 
"Mother  Bunch,"  who  thinks  to  drive  all  her 
chickens  before  her  whilst  they  are  all  scattered 
round  and  about. 

Hence  treachery  as  base  as  their  own,  was  had 
recourse  to  ;  and  they  were  finally  partly  forced, 
partly  trepanned,  partly  cajoled  in  going  farther 
West,  and  settling  upon  the  hunting-grounds  in 
Arkansas. 

As  recently  as  183G,  St.  Augustine  was  kept 
in  trepidation  by  the  inroads  of  the  Indians  on 
various  plantations  in  the  environs,  stealing 
negroes  and  carrying  way  crops,  and  perpetra- 
ting sundry  atrocities  in  a  similar  fashion  to  the 
Indians  West  :ii  this  very  day. 

In  regard  to  the  enormity  of  these  crimes,  we 

should  never  lose  Bight  of  the  peculiar  position 
of  the  red  and  w  hite  man.     The  one  is  the  natural 

inhabitant  of  the  soil,  living  upon  it  as  his  birth- 

'    by  the  special   dispensation  of  the  Great 

Spirit,  using  all  his  gifts  for  his  own  benefit  and 


SAINT     AUGUSTINE.  29 

that  of  his  family.  The  white  man  is  an  intruder 
and  encroacher,  and  the  destroyer  of  his  means 
of  life. 

Looking  at  the  question  from  the  Indian's 
most  natural  point  of  view,  we  might  ask,  what 
would  be  our  conduct  if  some  great,  powerful 
nation  were  to  appear  and  insist  upon  pulling 
down  onr  factories  and  great  cities  to  make  pas- 
ture-lands ?  It  is  more  than  probable  that  a  few 
barbarities  would  be  committed  by  us,  the  most 
civilized  people  in  the  world. 

There  is,  however,  far  more  poetry  about  the 
red  man  than  the  black.  Novelists  have  done 
much  to  idealize  him,  and  associate  him  inti- 
mately with  the  dark  pine  forest  and  luxuriant 
hummuck.  Agile,  daring,  fleet,  and  graceful ; 
decked  with  the  most  brilliant  trophies  of  the 
bird,  beast,  and  fish,  he  conld  well  become  the 
hero  of  a  theme  for  poets  to  sing,  or  novelists 
write  wild  stories  of  the  flood  and  field.  So  well 
does  he  seem  adapted  to  the  country,  and  the 
country  suited  to  him,  that  even  at  the  present 
day,  when  inhabited  by  a  white  and  mixed  popu- 
lation, and  his  elastic  tread  has  not  bounded 
on  his  native  soil  or  crushed  tin  wild  flowers 
and  grass  for  more  than  twenty  years,  still,  in 
traversing  the  vast,  lonely  glades  of  pine,  or 
sailing  on  the  smooth  bosom  of  the  St.  Johns 
river,  over-laden  with  dense  foliage,  one  expects 
every  moment  to  see  his  heron-plumed  head-gear 


30  SAINT    AUGUSTINE. 

peer  through  the  branches,  or  see  the  brushwood 
and  undergrowth  crushing  under  his  agile  spring, 
or  hear  his  war- whoop  echoing  through  the  oak 
thickets. 

The  story  of  Coacouehce,  as  detailed  by  Gen- 
eral Sprague,  in  his  history  of  the  Floridian  War, 
is  full  of  interest  and  poetry. 

Be  was  the  son  of  a  great  chief  called  King 
Philip,  and  was  thus  an  hereditary  chief;  added 
to  which,  he  possessed  in  his  own  person  all  the 
requisites  and  qualifications  of  a  great  Indian 
leader.  Shrewd,  active,  daring,  and  enduring, 
he  was  enabled  to  exercise  commanding  sway 
over  his  tribe,  and  appears  to  have  won  somewhat 
of  the  respeel  of  his  enemies.  War  to  him  was  a 
pastime,  and  he  delighted  in  the  excitement  as  a 
hunter  in  the  pursuit  of  game.  Often  when  pur- 
sued to  a  deep  swam].,  he  would  turn  and  laugh, 
and  jeer  his  pursuers,  floundering  with  their  arms 
and  accoutrements  through  the  mud  and  water, 

and  enjoyed  the  Bight  of  their  disasters,  whilst  his 
Own    lithe     figure    shimmed   easily    through.      He 

was  as  fleet  as  a  deer,  and  as  strong  and  tierce  as  a 
wolf.  He  was  aboul  twenty-eight  years  of  age, 
Blight  in  person,  above  the  middle  height,  with  a 
countenance  bright, intelligent,  playful,  and  attrac- 
tive. After  many  hair-breadth  escapes,  and  won- 
derful feats  in  il 1  and  field,  he  was  taken  in  the 

manner  described,  and  confined  in  the  fort,  from 
wh<  nee  he  effected  his  escape  as  described,  and 


SAINT    AUGUSTINE.  31 

succeeded  in  giving  his  captors  a  good  deal  of 
trouble  after  that.  When  he  was  again  captured 
and  brought  into  camp,  he  was  informed  that  his 
liberty  would  only  be  restored  to  him  upon  his 
consent  to  immigrate  with  all  his  tribe  to  Arkan- 
sas.  That  he  must  send  for  his  family,  and  all  his 
warriors,  who  would  be  conveyed  on  the  ship  with 
him.  Iron  manacles  were  placed  upon  him  to  im- 
press him  with  the  futility  of  any  attempt  to  es- 
cape, and  to  urge  him  to  influence  his  own  and 
other  tribes  to  depart.  For  a  time  these  irons 
seemed  to  eat  into  the  very  soul  of  the  warrior, 
and  deprive  him  of  any  spirit ;  his  haggard  and 
ghastly  countenance  bespoke  the  secret  suffering 
of  the  wild  animal  caught  in  a  trap ;  for  to  be 
chained,  is  the  deepest  degradation  which  can  be- 
fall the  free  limbs  of  an  Indian.  Death  in  the  open 
field,  would  be  regarded  as  a  boon  in  comparison. 
But  by  judicious  talk  and  argument,  he  was  finally 
brought  to  understand  that  his  future  in  Arkansas 
would  be  free,  and  even  more  brilliant  than  in 
Florida,  and  that,  as  his  own  destiny  in  that  direc- 
tion was  inevitable,  he  ought  to  encourage  the 
other  chiefs  and  tribes  to  join  him.  In  these  views 
he  at  length  coincided,  and  messengers  were  sent 
bearing  his  authority  to  bring  in  the  other  chiefs, 
the  women  and  children.  Be  divested  himself  ot 
his  last  and  onty  garment,  and  sent  it  to  his  broth- 
er, with  his  earnest  entreaties  to  yield  himself,  and 
spare  him  any  longer  the  degradation  of  his  chains. 


32  SAINT    AUGUSTINE. 

The  persuasiveness  of  this  appeal  could  not  be 
refused;  the  greater  part  of  his  people  came  in. 
The  meeting  between  the  tribe  and  their  chief, 
was  touching  in  the  extreme. 

As  this  is  not  a  history  of  the  Florida  war,  but 
a  sketch  of  St.  Augustine,  it  may  be  sufficient  to 
mention  that  Coacouchee  did  emigrate,  with  a 
number  of  the  warriors  of  his  tribe,  which  once 
more  left  St.  Augustine  in  peace. 

"When  his  irons  were  struck  off,  and  he  once 
more  stood  a  free  man,  upon  the  vessel  lying  in 
Tampico  bay,  ready  to  bear  him  to  his  new  home 
in  Arkansas,  he  stood  on  the  gangway  gazing 
intently,  and  with  lingering  regret,  on  the  loved 
land  his  foot  might  never  press,  on  the  land  of  his 
birth,  the  haunts  of  his  childhood,  the  graves  of 
his  fathers.  As  the  vessel  heaved  her  anchor  and 
jiiil  tosea,  two  large  tears  filled  his  dark  eyes,  and 
rolled  down  bis  bronzed  cheeks.  "I  have  taken 
farewell,"  he  exclaimed,  "of  the  last  tree  of  my 
own  land." 

The  existence  of  a  Great  Spirit  was  acknow- 
ledged by  Coacouchee  and  by  all  Indians,  and 
honored  most  devoutly  by  festivals,  games,  and 
dances,  and  medicine  making.  To  this  Great 
Spirit  they  believed  themselves  accountable  for 
their  aCtB. 

Coacouchee'e   dream,   as   related   to   General 

Sprague,  is  fall  of  the  highest  sentiment  of  poetry 
and     Bpiritnalized     love    and     tenderness,    which 


SAINT    AUGUSTINE.  33 

proves  that  the  Indian,  amidst  nil  Lis  ferocity,  has 
yet  a  sonl  for  high-toned  chivalry,  which  has  made 
him  the  hero  of  song  and  story.  They  were  very 
opposite  from  the  black  race,  who  are  neither 
graceful,  symmetrical,  handsome,  simple  or  mod- 
est, and  lacking  all  the  dignity  which  marks  the 
Indian  chief — the  picturescpicness  and  simplicity. 
The  blacks  are  rather  inclined  to  the  ludicrous 
than  the  sublime.  Coacouchce's  story  ran  thus : 
"  The  day  and  manner  of  my  death,"  he  says, 
"  are  given  out,  so  that  whatever  I  may  encounter 
I  fear  nothing.  The  Spirits  of  the  Seminoles 
protect  me,  and  the  spirit  of  my  twin  sister, 
who  died  many  years  ago,  watches  over  me. 
When  I  am  laid  in  the  earth  I  shall  go  to  live 
with  her.  She  died  suddenly.  I  was  out  on  a 
bear-hunt,  and  when  seated  by  my  camp-fire 
alone,  I  heard  a  strange  noise,  a  voice  that  told 
me  to  go  to  her.  The  camp  was  some  distance 
off,  but  I  took  my  rifle  and  started.  The  night 
was  dark  and  gloomy  ;  the  wolves  howled  about 
me.  As  I  went  from  hummuck,  sounds  came 
often  to  my  ear.  I  thought  she  was  speaking  to 
me.  At  daylight  I  reached  the  camp.  She  was 
dead !  I  sat  down  alone,  and  in  the  long  gray 
moss  hanging  from  the  trees  I  heard  strange 
sounds  again.  I  felt  myself  moving,  and  went 
above  into  a  new  country  where  all  was  bright 
and  beautiful.  I  saw  clear  water  ponds,  rivers, 
and  prairies  upon  which  the  sun  never  set.  All 
3 


34  SAINT     AUGUSTINE. 

was  green ;  the  grass  grew  high,  and  the  deer 
stood  in  the  midst  looking  at  me.  I  then  saw  a 
small  white  cloud  approaching,  and  when  just  be- 
fore me,  out  of  it  came  my  twin  sister,  dressed  in 
white  and  covered  with  bright  silver  ornaments  ; 
her  long  black  hair,  which  I  had  often  braided,  fell 
down  her  back.  She  clasped  me  round  the  neck 
and  said,  '  Coacouchee  !  Coacouchee  ! '  I  shook 
with  fear.  I  knew  her  voice,  but  could  not  speak. 
With  one  hand  she  gave  me  a  string  of  white 
beads,  in  the  other  she  held  a  cup  sparkling  with 
pure  water.  As  I  drank  she  sang  the  peace  song 
of  the  Scminoles  and  danced  round  me.  She  had 
silver  bells  on  her  feet,  which  made  a  loud,  sweet 
noise.  Taking  from  her  bosom  something,  she 
laid  it  before  me,  when  a  bright  blaze  streamed 
above  us.  She  took  me  by  the  hand  and  said, 
'AH  here  is  peace  ! '  I  wanted  to  ask  for  others, 
bu1  she  shook  her  head,  stepped  into  the  cloud, 
and  was  gone.  All  was  silent.  I  felt  mysclt 
sinking  until  I  reached  the  earth,  when  I  met  my 
brother   (hilka.      He   had    been  seeking    me,  and 

was  alarmed  at  my  absence." 

CoaCOUOhee  fondly  believed  in  the  reality  oft  his 
vision,    lie  declares  that  he  lost  the  "white  heads" 

in  the  St.  Augustine  prison-chamber,     it  is  a  pity 

they  cannot    be  shown  as  trophies  at    the   present 
time. 

ili    rabsequenl   history  was  not  unworthy  of 
hi-  pi<\ ioua  career. 


SAINT    AUGUSTINE.  35 

The  same  officer  who  had  .struck  off  his  chains 
at  Tampa  Bay  and  seen  him  safely  landed  in  his 
new  home  in  Arkansas,  chanced,  in  the  course  of 
his  duty  years  afterward,  to  be  quartered  upon 
the  Mexican  frontier. 

One  morning-,  happening  to  look  out  from  his 
tent  at  day  break,  he  was  astonished  and  some- 
what alarmed  to  see  a  cloud  in  the  distance  which 
looked  like  a  body  of  armed  men ;  the  sun's  first 
rays  caught  the  glitter  of  steel.  Summoning  his 
orderly,  the  officer  rode  to  the  crest  of  a  hill, 
in  order  to  obtain  a  better  view  of  the  enemy,  if 
such  it  was.  Here  he  saw  a  single  horseman  ad- 
vancing bearing  a  white  flag.  This  man  stated 
that  his  commander  wished  for  an  interview  with 
the  General.  Presently  who  should  ride  up  but 
the  Indian  warrior  chief  Coacouchee.  He  was 
partly,  but  only  partly,  transformed  into  a  Mexi- 
can officer.  He  had  commenced  his  habiliments 
from  the  top ;  he  had  donned  a  plumed  hat  and 
military  full-dress  long-tailed  coat,  with  sword 
and  epaulettes.  Then  he  considered  ho  had  eon- 
decended  far  enough  to  civilization,  and  the  rest 
of  his  person  was  still  in  the  natural  "  state  of 
the  red  Indian." 

Poor  Coacouchee  !  as  Burns  said  of  "  Cutter 
Sark's  garment," 

"Though  in  longitude  t'was  sorely  scanty, 
It  was  his  best,  and  he  was  vaunty." 


36  SAIXT    AUGUSTINE. 

He  met  his  old  enemy  and  friend  with  af- 
fectionate welcome,  and  npon  equal  terms,  for  he 
was  decorated  with  the  insignia  of  a  Colonel  in 
the  Mexican  service. 

He  seemed  delighted  to  prove  to  his  former 
captor  that  he  was  a  great  chief  in  spite  of  those 
irous  they  had  placed  upon  him,  and  pointed  to 
the  band  o'f  warriors  under  his  command  with 
exultation  and  pride. 

AS  A  WINTER  RESORT, 

St.  Augustine  is  one  of  the  most  eligible  and 
attractive  places  within  the  limits  of  the  United 
States,  especially  for  certain  classes  of  invalids 
needing  a  mild  and  genial  climate. 

The  air  is  ever  balmy,  yet  fresh  and  bracing, 
there  being  more  or  less  Avind  every  day,  and  devoid 
of  that  moist,  oppressive  heat  which  visitors  find 
so  enervating  upon  the  river.  There  is  a  large  bath- 
house built  <m(  in  the  bay  for  the  accommodation  of 
guests,  and  is  quite  a  rendezvous  for  young  ladies  in 
the  evenings,  which  arc  always  cool,  and,  we  might 
almost  say,  always  moonlight.  But  the  fact  is, 
thai  flic  very  smallest  portion  of  moon,  which  in 
other  climates  we  should  fail  to  notice,  here  gives 
bo  brilliant  a  light  that  it  is  really  light  two-thirds 
of  tli"  month.  Save  on  the  Bay  of  Naples  I  never 
saw  the  moon  appear  SO  large.  The  planet  Venus 
was  unusually  large  and  brilliant,  with  a  pale  halo 
round  it,  giving  a  light  as  though  it  were  fast 


SAIN'T     AUGUSTINE.  37 

growing  up  a  young  moon  itself.  It  is  no  wonder 
that  swimming  in  these  silvered  blue  waters  be- 
comes  the  favorite  fashion  of  the  belles  of  Augus- 
tine,  and  there  are  few  cities  which  can  boast  of 
a  fairer  display  of  beauty.  Being  for  the  most 
part  of  Spanish  descent,  they  retain  something  of 
the  dark,  flashing  eye  and  much  of  the  grace  of 
carriage  ;  they  are  also  particularly  neat  dressers, 
and  among  the  older  ladies  the  practice  of  wear- 
ing black  veils  over  the  head  is  still  prevalent,  and 
also  the  inevitable  fan  at  all  times  and  seasons. 
Even  in  church  the  congregation  keep  up  a  soft 
flutter  with  the  motion  of  these  fans,  like  the 
rustle  of  trees  by  the  wind. 

Every  vegetable,  fruit  and  flower  can  be  cul- 
tivated here  with  the  least  amount  of  labor. 
Oranges  could  be  as  plentiful  as  apples  in  Here- 
fordshire or  peaches  in  Georgia,  if  cultivated  with 
the  same  care.  Lemons,  sour  oranges,  and  the 
bitter-sweet  grow  wild  and  form  a  most  delicious 
tonic  drink,  nearly  equal  to  quinine  for  giving  an 
appetite.  It  is  quite  free  from  chills  and  fever, 
the  scourge  of  the  South,  and  the  summer  is 
equally  healthy  with  the  winter,  and  not  so  hot 
as  other  places  north  or  south,  except  the  moun- 
tainous regions.  The  same  want  of  energy  and  am- 
bition is  observable  here  as  in  most  Southern 
cities.  The  same  reason  is  invariably  given — 
"  the  war."  Before  the  war  every  thing  must, 
from  all  accounts,  have  been  in  a  state  of  perfec- 


38  SAINT    AUGUSTINE. 

tion.  But  the  whole  South  is  in  a  terrihly  dilap- 
idated condition  at  present.  What  with  the  four 
years'  ravages  of  war,  the  six  years'  ravages  of 
neglect,  and  the  century  of  Southern  laxity  and 
negro  laziness,  the  South  is  almost  as  wild  and 
uncultivated  as  though  it  had  only  been  settled  a 
couple  of  years  instead  of  a  couple  of  centuries. 

St.  Augustine  must  have  retrograded  consid- 
erahly  in  this  respect.  It  is  stated  that  the  city 
in  the  time  of  the  Spaniards  was  beautifully  kept. 
No  wheeled  vehicle  was  allowed  to  enter  inside 
the  gates,  which  are  of  stone,  handsomely  built, 
and  carved  in  the  Moorish  style,  containing  sentry 
boxes  in  their  thickness.  The  streets  were  all 
paved  with  the  coquina,  and  kept  so  clean  that 
ladies  used  to  walk  out  to  their  evening  entertain- 
ments in  their  silk  slippers.  Now,  the  streets  are 
ankle  deep  in  sand,  the  former  beautiful  pavement 
lying  still  many  feet  deep  beneath.  The  sea  has 
gradually  washed  up  the  sand,  and  this  failing  to  be 
moved  regularly,  no  trace  of  the  pavement  now  re- 
mains. Sometimes  after  heavy  rains  it  will  leave 
great  holes,  deep  enough  to  bury  a  man  if  he  got  in. 
Then,  the  authorities  mend  the  road  very  much  in 
the  Turkish  fashion,  viz.,  by  making  it  worse.  In 
the  latter  country  they  mend  the  road  by  having 
all  the  points  of  the  stones  upwards,  and  the 
usual  flattened  pail  down.  Here  they  have  a 
diabolical  way  of  filling  these  holes  with  enor- 
mous oyi  ter  bells,  which  they  never  take  the  small- 


SAINT    AUGUSTINE.  39 

est  trouble  to  crush  or  break,  so  that  you  would 
feel  yourself  quite  as  comfortable  in  a  rat-trap  as 
stepping  in  amongst  them.  The  streets  are  so 
narrow  that  the  poor  horses  can  barely  find  room 
to  pass  without  going  over  this  ordeal  of  rough 
oyster  shells,  and  their  hocks  and  feet  get  ter- 
ribly lacerated. 

There  is  no  excuse  here  for  not  having  a  good 
pavement,  as  the  coquina  is  at  hand,  and  the 
streets  merely  require  to  be  paved  with  it  to  make 
walking  perfectly  agreable  instead  of  a  disastrous 
punishment.  Either  your  shoes  are  filled  with 
sand,  or  your  ankles  scraped  with  oyster  shells. 

There  are  still  to  be  seen  the  remains  of  some 
handsome  buildings.  The  remains  of  the  Treasury 
show  signs  of  architectural  taste,  as  also  the  queer 
old  residence  of  the  Goveimor,  and  the  old  Ca- 
thedral, picturesque  from  its  Moorish  facade  and 
belfry.  But  it  is  probable  that  many  of  the  best 
buildings  were  burnt  and  destroyed  from  time  to 
time.  The  gates  are  the  most  perfect,  and  the  fort, 
all  of  which  have  architectural  merit.  The  ruins  of 
these  gates  are  quite  a  treasure  to  the  artist ;  and 
there  are  many  other  good  points  for  sketching 
and  making  small  pictures  in  St.  Augustine. 

Photographs  have  been  taken  of  numerous 
portions  of  the  city,  and  are  eagerly  bought  by 
visitors.  But  the  great  disadvantage  of  photo- 
graphy, for  this  kind  of  picture,  is  that  it  fails  to 
convey  the  wonderfully  beautiful  gray  coloring 


40  SAINT   AUGUSTINE. 

which  time  and  climate  has  lent,  and  destroys  the 
peculiar  ancient  appearance  of  the  buildings,  and 
transforms  them  into  the  unpoetioal,  fresh,  new 
building  of  America.  There  are  many  pleasant 
rides  and  drives  round  St.  Augustine,  along 
the  hard  sand  beach. 

St.  Augustine  is  somewhat  of  a  cul-de-sac — 
the  end  of  creation  in  that  direction,  and  to  get 
back  into  the  world  at  large  you  must  return 
the  way  you  came — for  there  is  no  exit  elsewhere 
— via  Pieolata  and  the  St.  Johns  river,  or  by  land 
to  Jacksonville  by  the  road  (now  a  mere  sand 
track)  made  by  the  English  Governor  when  in 
possession  of  Florida.  The  river  steamers  never 
come  to  St.  Augustine  unless  to  bring  or  take 
away  troops,  for  in  common  with  all  other  South- 
ern cities  since  the  war,  it  is  garrisoned  with 
troops,  which  has  the  effect,  at  least, pro.  fern., of 
preventing  the  inhabitants  from  expiring  of 
inanition.  They  also  bring  a  little  money  into  the 
place,  which  is  greatly  needed,  the  inhabitants 
being  Cor  the  most  part  in  a  wretchedly  poor  con- 
dition, possessing  no  money,  but  heaps  of  Con- 
federate  bonds,  which  arc  not  useful  even  to  light 
fires,  where  the  pine  wood  will  blaze  up  without 
paper.  They  are,  in  many  instances,  literally 
penniless,  more  especially  the  l>cst  people  of  the 

Country  and  in  many  small  towns  in  the  South. 
There  is  a  system  of  borrowing  and  lending  and 
bartering  canned  <»ii  quite  amusing  if  it  were  not. 


SAINT    AUGUSTINE.  41 

too  sad.  There  exists  a  listless  apathy,  a  morbid 
inertness,  as  of  people  who  had  expended  their 
last  effort — a  hopeless  feeling  very  terrible  to  be- 
hold, hanging  over  most  of  the  Southern  cities. 
They  are  crushed,  broken,  ruined,  and  humiliated, 
if  a  people  so  proud  can  ever  realize  that  senti- 
ment. 

Saint  Augustine  is  not  only  unique  for  its  jie- 
euliar  antiquity,  but  it  possesses  a  speciality  of 
its  own,  for  it  can  boast  of  a  manufacture  peculiar 
to  itself.  Small  and  insignificant  as  it  is,  it  is  the 
only  town  in  this  country  we  have  visited  which 
has  a  speciality.*  In  England  most  towns  have, 
or  have  had,  a  special  manufacture  of  their  own. 
As  Sheffield  for  cutlery,  Coventry  for  ribbons, 
Nottingham  for  lace,  Matlock  for  its  spar  and 
marble  ornaments,  Tunbridp-e  for  its  wood-car  vine;; 
— every  town,  almost,  is  celebrated  for  something. 
St.  Augustine  is  thus  celebrated  for  making  hats, 
baskets,  fans  and  boxes,  out  of  the  palmetto — very 
pretty  and  fanciful — and  no  strangers  leave  the 
place  without  carrying  away  sonic  little  souvenir. 
They  also  make  baskets  and  mats  of  the  strong 
wire-grass,  which  are  quite  durable  and  useful. 
The  old-fashioned  Spanish  lace-making  is  the 
prominent  needle-work  among  the  inhabitants, 
but  is  not  of  the  best  style,  and  is  very  tedious 
and  trying  to  the  eyes. 

*  The  author  had  evidently  made  a  very  limited  examina- 
tion of  the  United  States  when  this  remark  was  written. 


42  SAIXT    AUGUSTINE. 

Recently  some  French  nuns  have  arrived  from 
Le  Puys,  in  France,  brought  over  for  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  poor  black  as  well  as  white,  by  the 
energetic  Bishop  of  Savannah.  They  come  from 
that  part  of  France  where  the  beautiful  thread 
and  silk  lace  is  made,  such  as  Cluney,  Passemen- 
terie, Guissure,  Valenciennes  and  Lille.  They 
are  proficients  in  their  art,  and  in  their  own  coun- 
try devoted  their  lives  to  instructing  the  poor  in 
religion,  a  simple  education,  and  the  means  of 
earning  their  own  living,  by  teaching  them  to 
make  lace.  They  open  large  Avork-rooms  -where, 
after  the  children  have  gone  through  their  exer- 
cises of  reading  and  writing,  they  are  each  sup- 
plied with  a  little  frame  or  cushion,  thread  and 
bobbins,  and  they  are  taught  Lace-making  for  the 
rest  of  the  day.  A  child  of  eight  years  old  can 
learn  if,  ami  can  be  taught  as  early  as  they  could 
be  taught  their  notes  on  the  piano,  and  little  girls 
take  a  great  delight  in  it,  especially  in  making 
trimming  for  their  dolls,  and  the  first  communion 
veil.  In  that  part  of  France  every  woman  and 
child,  rich  and  poor,  knows  how  to  make  lace. 
When  visiting  that  pail-  of  France  three  years 
a". I     we    all    took    the    mania,    and    commenced 

cushion  lace-making  with  great  vigor.  It  is  very 
interesting  work,  and  the  satisfaction  great  in 
wearing  Lace  of  your  own  manufacture.  Ladies 
all  make  it  for  pastime,  and  the  poor  for  profit. 
<»l>l  women  almost  blind  and  bedridden  can  still 


SAINT    AUGUSTINE.  43 

continue  making  the  same  pattern  they  have  done 
all  their  lives,  and  earn  enough  to  keep  themselves 
in  a  tidy  little  room  until  they  go  to  a  better 
habitation.  If  the  sisters  could  succeed  in  es- 
tablishing the  same  work  and  class-rooms  in  St. 
Augustine,  there  is  no  reason  why  it  should  not 
speedily  rival  Cluny  or  Valenciennes.  There  are  a 
number  of  young  persons  in  this  ancient  Spanish 
city  who  are  peculiarly  adapted  to  this  work  from 
their  domestic  habits,  refusing  to  leave  home  for 
any  service,  but  having  ingenuity  and  adaptability 
of  finger.  These  girls,  if  they  were  taught,  could 
make  rapid  fortunes  for  themselves  and  their 
quaint  and  beautiful  little  city.  Not  a  yard  of 
lace  worn  by  any  lady  on  this  great  continent 
which  is  not  imported,  and  half  a  dozen  profits 
levied  therefor,  besides  the  duty,  before  she  can 
touch  it.  Girls  working  it  at  home,  at  no  expense 
but  the  raw  material,  which  is  trifling,  could  sell 
it,  making  a  handsome  profit,  at  less  than  two- 
thirds  the  price  paid  for  it  at  present  in  this  coun- 
try. In  Malta,  where  the  young  girls  all  make 
lace,  and  are  very  similar  in  habits  and  character 
to  the  St.  Augustinians,  we  bought  rich  black  silk 
lace  (in  wear  ever  since,  five  years)  for  exactly 
one-third  of  what  it  is  valued  at  in  America ;  for 
the  reason  that  here,  after  it  leaves  the  hands  of 
the  girl  who  makes  it,  it  passes  through  those  of 
half  a  dozen  buyers,  sellers,  agents,  merchants, 
custom-house   and    store-keepers.      The   greatest 


44  SAINT    AUGUSTINE. 

lace  manufactories  have  been  started  by  one  or 
two  persons  having  the  art,  and  settling  down  in 
a  spot.  The  object  of  the  sisters  is  simply  to  do 
good  to  their  fellows.  They  have  devoted  their 
lives  to  charity  in  any  and  every  shape  and  form, 
whether  it  be  teaching  the  ignorant,  tending  the 
sick,  soothing  the  miserable,  teaching  God's  word, 
or  teaching  the  needy  to  earn  their  bread,  and 
thus  putting  them  above  temptation  ;  they  are 
but  fulfilling  their  vocation  of  charity.  And  so 
much  respect  do  I  bear  to  these  devoted  sisters 
of  charity,  whom  I  have  known  as  a  body  since  I 
was  four  years  old,  that  I  cheerfully  take  this  op- 
portunity of  testifying  to  their  great  merit,  and 
trust,  with  all  my  heart,  that  their  good  works 
may  be  crowned  with  success  in  this  world,  as 
their  earnest,  devoted  endeavor  will  surely  be 
crowned  hereafter. 

The  hats  are  made  by  slitting  and  plait- 
ing the  palmetto,  which  when  completed  resem- 
bles very  much  the  coarse  straw  hats  of  other 
countries,  being  lighter  or  whiter,  or  it  is  said,  not 
cleanable.  Bui  the  ornaments  with  which  they 
trim  them  constitute  the  beauty  of  the  hat.  The 
broad,   smooth  palmetto   leaf   is    cut    into  various 

forms  of  Leaves  and  flowers  and  feathers,  and  re- 
sembles the  finest  Swiss  wood  work ;  frequently 

the   BUgar-cane    flower   is  added  as  a   feather,  and 

imitates  a  golden  Maraborie.  The  trimming  is  in 
fact    the  whole  charm  of  the  hat.     The  ornamen- 


SAINT    AUGUSTINE.  45 

tation  upon  fans,  boxes,  watch  -  pockets,  and  a 
variety  of  small  articles,  is  also  very  tasteful  and 
peculiar,  and  displays  a  talent  and  ingenuity  re- 
markable only  as  a  generality  in  this  little  spot  of 
the  Southern  States,  where  there  appears  rather  a 
lack  of  original  inventiveness.  Other  hats  are 
made  from  a  strong  grass  called  the  wire-grass, 
which  when  stitched  with  colored  silk  have  a 
very  pretty  effect,  and  are  exceedingly  durable. 
Mats  and  all  kinds  of  baskets  are  made  of  the 
same  wire  -  grass,  and  resemble  in  appearance, 
strength  and  durability  the  baskets  made  by  the 
Arabs  in  Algiers,  on  the  coast  of  Africa.  The 
manufacture  is  so  similar  that  it  would  lead  one 
to  suppose  that  the  Augustinans  learned  it  from 
the  Spaniards,  who  took  it  from  the  Moors  in 
Spain,  who  brought  it  from  Tunis  and  the  African 
coast — a  curious  history  for  a  basket. 

There  is  little  doubt  that  St.  Augustine  will 
eventually  become  as  fashionable  a  resort  as  West 
Point,  Newport,  or  Saratoga,  and  more  vitally 
important  than  any  of  the  above-named  places,  on 
account  of  its  life-giving  properties  to  all  persons 
afflicted  with  pulmonary  disease,  and  all  maladies 
which  require  a  mild  and  equable  climate.  Pleas- 
ant summer  resorts  are  rarely  suitable  for  winter 
residences,  and  many  families  and  individuals  find 
it  too  inconvenient  and  expensive  to  change  their 
abode  twice  a  year.  The  moving  of  all  one's 
belongings,  and  the  packing  up  of  household  gods, 


4G  SAINT     AUGUSTINE. 

is  often  a  consideration  that  weighs  to  keep  many 
a  poor  invalid  in  a  climate  which  every  day  saps 
the  fountain  of  his  life,  which  in  a  genial  atmos- 
phere might  flow  on  softly  for  a  number  of  years. 

It  is  no  uncommon  case  for  consumptives  to 
live  for  ten  or  fifteen  years  with  hut  one  lung,  in 
a  climate  such  as  St.  Augustine,  where  no  bitter 
eastern  wind  ever  irritates  the  remaining  lung, 
wbere  no  biting  frost  ever  congests  the  respiratory 
organs  the  year  round,  where  the  summer  knows 
no  enervating  heat,  or  the  winter  any  intense  cold, 
but  glide  imperceptibly  into  each  other,  wafted  in 
and  out  by  a  clear  sea  breeze,  not  keen  enough  to 
chill  the  most  sensitive,  but  cool  enough  to  be  a 
grateful  Jan. 

Fully  realizing  these  great  advantages,  numer- 
ous wealthy  families  from  the  North  have  estab- 
lished themselves  permanently  at  St.  Augustine, 
where  they  live  the  year  round,  in  great  comfort 
and  considerable  elegance,  which  the  climate 
permits;  going  on  pleasure-trips  only  for  amuse- 
ment and  relaxation  of  change.  Their  houses  are 
unsurpassed,  tor  luxury  and  convenience,  by  any 
thing  in  the  States.  Commanding  piazzas,  inter- 
laced with  gorgeous  flowery  creepers  and  vines; 
hanging  baskets  of  drooping  moss  and  lichens; 
shady  walks  beneath  the  orange  and  magnolia; 
line  airy  rooms,  catching  the  balmy  gale  of  the 
citron  from  one  side  or  the  other.  There  is  always 
one  side    of  the  house    where,  in    the    height  of 


SAINT    AUGUSTINE.  47 

summer  it  is  quite  cool.  There  is  the  advantage  of 
excellent  fishing,  and  for  gentlemen  who  are  given 
to  sporting,  there  is  an  abundance  of  game — wild 
turkey,  wild  duck,  deer,  beai-,  and  smaller  game  ; 
oysters  in  plenty,  crabs,  mullet,  sheepshead,  and 
others  in  great  variety.  It  is  almost  needless  to 
say,  that  vegetables  can  be  grown  in  the  greatest 
profusion  and  variety,  and  through  the  whole  sea- 
son— peas  in  January,  and  tomatoes  in  March. 

Many  northern  families  not  only  grow  all  their 
own  fruits  and  vegetables,  but  have  such  an  exceed- 
ing quantity,  that  they  easily  supply  the  tables  of 
various  hotels  and  boarding-houses  in  St.  Augus- 
tine, which  are  usually  full  of  visitors  in  the  winter 
months. 

Of  these,  the  Magnolia  House,  kept  by  Mrs. 
Buffington,  is  a  spacious,  clean,  commodious  house, 
with  snug,  airy  rooms  opening  on  to  a  wide  balcony 
or  veranda,  overhanging  a  quaint  old-fashioned 
garden,  the  walks  marked  out  by  coquina  stone, 
reminding  one  of  some  old  cloister  garden  in 
monastic  enclosures.  It  is  ever  flowery  the  year 
round  with  perfumed  orange  blossoms,  scarlet 
pomegranate,  yellow  chaporelle,  pink,  crape, 
myrtle,  and  a  variety  of  other  blooming  trees,' 
gladening  the  eyes  of  the  weary  invalid  with 
their  cool,  fragrant  beauty.  On  the  other  side  of 
the  garden,  in  a  green  field  well  shaded  with  trees, 
is  an  old-fashioned  Methodist  chapel,  from  whence, 
early  on    Sabbath    morning,    comes   wafted  the 


48  SAINT     AUGUSTINE. 

sweet  voice  of  young  children,  singing  their 
Sunday  school  hymn,  "  The  river,  the  "beautiful 
river,  that  flows  by  the  throne  of  God,"  So  gold- 
en floods  the  light  over  this  scene,  so  deliciously 
perfumed  is  the  air  these  Sunday  mornings,  so 
holy  and  benignant  is  all  around,  so  sacredly  all 
nature  seems  to  join  with  the  heavens  in  "telling 
the  glory  of  God,"  that  could  one  be  sure  there 
was  "  peace  and  good  will  among  men,"  it  would 
not  be  difficult  to  believe  that  this  in  truth  was 
the  promised  land  the  little  children  are  singing  of. 
There  is  also  a  Presbyterian  church,  and  the  min- 
ister, like  most  of  his  brethren  of  that  denomina- 
tion, delivers  a  sound,  sterling,  excellent  discourse 
twice  every  Sunday. 

Besides  these  is  the  Roman  Catholic  church, 
on  the  Plaza,  already  described,  with  the  Moorish 
belfry;  and  the  Episcopal  church,  whoso  amiable 
and  intelligent  minister  resides  at  the  Magnolia. 
Also  a  Baptist  assembly  of  negroes,  which  it  is 
worth  any  stranger's  while  to  visit,  if  they  wish  to 
form  a  correct  idea  of  how  far  Christianity  has 
perineal i'd  into  some  of  these  dark  skins. 

There  are  two  convents  for  the  education  of 

'all  classes — black  and   white,  rich  and   poor;  for 

these   devoted   Sisters  rarely   <1<>   any  thing   by 

halves. 

To  Catholic  families,  with  delicate  girls  re- 
quiring a  warm  climate  and    tender  care,  as  well 

8    education,  this  convent — which  is  a  handsome 


SAINT     AUGUSTINE.  49 

building,  surrounded  by  a  large  garden — offers 
considerable  advantages  rarely  to  be  met  with  in 
a  school.  There  are  a  number  of  French  Sisters 
from  whom  they  would  have  all  the  facility  of 
learning  the  language,  together  with  all  the  usual 
branches  of  an  English  education. 

To  those  girls  whose  future  livelihood  de- 
pended upon  their  own  exertion,  the  lace-making 
would  prove  a  valuable  acquirement;  for  a  girl 
able  to  work  this  lace  can  earn  from  four  to  five 
dollars  a  day — sitting  quietly  in  her  own  room, 
with  her  little  cushion  before  her — with  half  the 
exertion  of  playing  the  piano.  The  St.  Augus- 
tine girls  excel,  as  we  have  shown,  in  ingenuity 
of  fingers  practised  by  Europeans. 

Every  Frenchwoman  is  a  superior  needle  wo- 
man, and  their  fancy-work  of  all  descriptions  is 
spread  over  the  whole  world. 

Germans  are  wonderful  knitters,  wool-workers, 
and  toy  makers. 

The  Swiss — ivory-carvers  and  wood-cutters. 

The  Italians  —  mosaic-setters  in  stone  and 
wood,  cameo  and  coral-carvers. 

The  Armenian  Turkish  woman's  embroidery 
in  gold,  silk,  and  pearls,  excels  the  whole  world. 

In  America  there  is  little  of  this  ingenuity  of 
finger,  unless  in  St.  Augustine,*  where  it  is  prom- 
inent, and  is  destined  to  take  rank  with  any  Eu- 
ropean continental  city ;  for  the  same  genius  is 

*  Probably  the  writer's  observation  has  been  rather  limited. 
4 


50  sAINT    AUGUSTINE. 

noticeable,  tbc  same  gift  is  innate  to  the  people, 
aud  "will  sooner  or  later  display  itself  in  its  own 
way. 

Some  little  incident  to  quicken  the  impetus, 
and  St.  Augustine  may  rise  like  a  Phoenix  from 
the  ashes  and  blood  which  centuries  of  "war  have 
heaped  upon  her  devoted  head.  America  is  a 
living  marvel  for  the  rapid  rise  of  her  new  cities; 
but  her  old  ones  need  not  crumble  into  dust  for 
all  that — and  such  is  not  the  fate  of  her  oldest. 
She  "will  yet  stand  with  pride  among  her  children 
and  great-great-grandchildren  cities — such  as  Chi- 
cago— as  alert  and  juvenile  as  any,  only  shaking 
her  hoary  locks,  as  old  folks  will,  over  her  long 
experience  and  wisdom. 

There  is  a  large  garrison  kept  in  this  city, 
which  tends  largely  to  support  and  enliven  the 
place  by  the  daily  performance  of  the  military 
band,  which  plays  alternately  upon  the  Plaza,  in 
the  evening,  and  the  barracks. 

This  cheery  music  breaks  the  stillness  and 
monotony  of  a  small  town  with  a  most  exhilara- 
ting effect.  The  inhabitants  hear  the  enlivening 
strains,  and  sally  forth  on  to  the  Plaza.  Young 
men  ami  maidens,  children  and  old  persons;  and 
of  course  all  the  negroes  who  can  muster. 

No  doubt  <  General  Sprague,  the  commander  of 
this  district,  has  discovered  the  beneficial  effect  of 

soothing  and    conciliatory  policy,    Cor  there   is   no 

man  who  has  filled  this  very  difficull  and  arduous 


SAINT    AUGUSTINE.  51 

post  with  more  successful  results,  and  who  is  more 
admired  and  beloved  by  all  parties. 

In  some  towns  there  are  Southern  ladies  who 
will  not  allow  their  eyes  to  fall  on  a  Northern  epau- 
lette, hoAvever  agreable  its  wearer  may  endeavor 
to  make  himself.  But  a  lady  would  have  to  be 
something  more  or  less  than  a  woman  if  she  could 
resist  or  fail  to  appreciate  the  nobility  and  benev- 
olence which  nature  has  stamped  upon  the  coun- 
tenance of  Col.  Sprague,  and  the  effect  is  manifest. 
Surrounded  by  a  charming  family,  his  house  is 
hospitably  open  to  all  the  best  people  visiting  St. 
Augustine. 

The  house  itself  is  a  most  interesting  object, 
from  its  strongly  marked  Spanish  character. 
From  the  colonnade  or  veranda  running  around 
it,  you  enter  at  once  without  hall  or  vestibule  into 
a  large  room  about  fifty  or  sixty  feet  long,  only 
broken  by  two  Moorish  archways,  over  which 
curtains  can  drop  to  form  two  separate  rooms. 
The  archways  meeting  in  the  centre  form  the 
fire-place,  back  and  front,  for  each  side  of  the 
room,  whose  capacious  chimney,  where  half  a 
dozen  persons  might  ensconce  themselves  cosily, 
are  ornamented  with  massive  brass  dog-irons,  and 
in  chilly  weather  a  brilliant  log  fire  completes  the 
picture.  There  are  eight  doors  to  the  room,  all 
partially  glass,  and  as  the  family  is  large  and  en- 
tertain all  comers,  the  constant  ingress  and  egress 
is  almost  like  a  pantoinine,  and  render  it  one  of 


52  SAINT    AUGUSTINE. 

the  most  amusing  and  picturesque  rooms  I  have 
ever  visited. 

At  door  number  one  entered  a  gay-uniformed 
officer,  doffing  plumed  hat  and  proceeding  to  pay 
his  devoirs  to  a  pretty  girl  seated  in  the  shade  of 
the  archway,  where  she  seems  to  have  expected 
him.  At  door  number  two  rush  in  such  exquisite- 
ly beautiful  children,  that  one  imagines  they  have 
been  made  to  grace  this  scene  specially ;  at  the 
third  door  follows  their  ugly  old  black  nurse,  or 
niamy ;  an  orderly  is  waiting  at  the  fourth  for 
commands ;  by  the  fifth  enter  a  bevy  of  highly 
worked  up  fashionable  ladies  from  New  York, 
visiting  Saint  Augustine  in  order  to  say  they  have 
been  there.  At  number  six  appear  a  party  of  naval 
officers  from  the  cutter  lying  in  the  bay.  At  num- 
ber seven  glide  quietly  in  two  meek-looking  Sis- 
ters of  Charity,  for  all  have  recourse  to  Mrs. 
Sprague  in  their  difficulties  and  trouble.  She  is 
seated  on  a  couch  near  her  aged  mother,  who  has 
been  an  invalid,  and  whilst  bending  her  classical- 
shaped  head  gracefully  towards  the  Sisters,  and 
Listening  with  a  placid  smile  lo  their  wants  and 
requirements,  she  watches  with  tender  devotion 
every  movement  of  her  mother.  She  is  all  thought 
and  feeling  for  every  one — for  all  but  herself. 

Mrs.  Sprague  was  one  of  the  beautiful  daugh- 
ters of  General  Worth,  celebrated  in  the  Florida 
and  .Mexican  war;  she  is,  therefore,  thoroughly 
acquainted  wiih   the  temper,  feeling,  and  senti- 


SAINT    AUGUSTINE.  5:5 

merits  of  the  South,  and  thus  is  a  most  valuable 
adjunct  in  this  way  to  her  husband. 

St.  Augustine  has  been  fortunate  in  havinsr 
such  a  military  commander,  and  fully  appreciates 
her  good  luck,  for  with  such  an  open  house  and 
the  people  who  keep  it,  St.  Augustine  could  never 
be  wanting  in  pleasant  society. 

Boating  on  the  bay  is  a  favorite  amusement 
on  moonlight  nights,  and  in  the  day,  boating  ex- 
cursions to  gather  shells  on  the  opposite  beach  of 
the  Island  of  Anastasia,  which  abounds  in  very 
beautiful  ones.  Collecting  sea  mosses  and  lichens, 
is  a  pleasant  occupation ;  and  for  those  who  can 
arrange  them  scientifically,  it  would  be  possible 
to  make  a  classified  album,  such  as  are  made  and 
sold  by  the  thousand  in  the  Isles  of  Wight,  Jer- 
sey and  Guernsey,  in  the  old  country.  There  are 
several  good  sailing  boats  for  hire,  and  the  day's 
amusement  healthful  and  delightful,  even  tho' 
"the  shells  we  gather  are  soon  thrown  idly  by." 

Some  ladies  make  excursions  over  to  the  pearly 
white  sand  beach  to  bathe,  in  preference  to  the 
bathing-house  immediately  on  Bay  street. 

To  Americans  who  have  not  visited  Europe, 
or  only  such  modern  portions  of  London,  Paris, 
and  capitals  which  more  or  less  resemble  New 
York,  St.  Augustine  Avould  possess  a  fund  of  in- 
terest, from  its  antiquities  and  curious  appearance ; 
for  although  it  greatly  resembles  Italian,  Spanish 
Moorish  towns,  it  is  totally  unlike  any  thing  else 


54  SAINT    AUGUSTINE. 

in  America,  where  all  is  comparatively  modern 
and  new.  A  stranger  may  form  a  very  correct 
idea  of  what  Cadiz,  Tunis,  Terracina  may  be  like, 
looking  at  St.  Augustine,  especially  by  moonlight, 
when  all  its  defects  are  hidden  and  all  its  beauties 
enhanced.  And  it  seems  to  be  generally  moon- 
light. From  the  fact  of  the  sn-eat  clearness  of  the 
atmosphere,  the  smallest  portion  of  moon  gives 
a  very  strong  light ;  whether  crescent  or  waning 
moon,  it  lights  up  the  place  with  an  astonishing 
vividness  which  I  have  only  seen  equalled  on  the 
Bay  of  Naples. 

The  star-light  nights  are  wondrously  lovely, 
and  the  myriads  of  fire-flies  of  such  size  and  bright- 
ness, that  it  looks  as  though  the  stars  were  de- 
scending upon  the  earth.  Heaven  and  earth 
coming  together,  which  no  doubt  would  be  a 
very  pleasant  circumstance,  if  it  would  really 
happen. 

J  Jut  these  moonlight  nights  are  the  glory  of 
Sainl  Augustine.  So  bright  and  cool,  and  soft 
and  balmy,  few  can  resist  the  enjoyablenesa  of 
a  stroll,  or  the  dreamy  bliss  of  sitting  out  on  the 
veranda  listening  to  the  echoes  of  the  band  or 
the    I  inkling    of  some   distant    guitar — dreaming 

over  all  the  happiness  we  know,  past,  present,  or 
to  come. 

Evening  ia  the  time  for  visiting,  and  there  is 
a  great  deal  of  cosy  neighboring  amongst  tho 
townspeople,     of  course  it  is  the  time  for  love- 


SAIN"  T     A  0  G  0  STI X IC.  55 

making,  and  to  the  delicious  moonlight  nights  is 
no  doubt  attributable  the  unusual  number  of  mar- 
riages in  this  place,  which  seems  to  keep  the 
small  city  in  a  perfect  flutter  of  anticipation  and 
excitement. 

It  certainly  deserves  to  be  patronized  by  New 
England  ladies,  where,  I  understand,  there  is  such 
an  overplus  of  the  gentler  sex.  They  could  not 
fail  to  find  a  mate  under  this  specific  of  moonlight 
at  St.  Augustine.  One  lady,  we  were  informed, 
had  been  married  five  times.  It  seems  a  great 
number,  but  we  suppose  she  could  not  help  it  un- 
der the  circumstances. 

The  great  desideratum  for  St.  Augustine  is  a 
railroad  from  thence  to  Picolata,  so  that  the  route 
would  then  be  quite  direct  from  New  York,  with 
only  one  change  of  steamer  at  Charleston  or  Sa- 
vannah. Splendid  steamers  ply  almost  daily  from 
New  York  to  either  of  these  towns,  where  several 
fine  steamers  continue  the  route  up  the  St.  Johns 
river  to  Picolata,  the  nearest  point  to  St.  Augus- 
tine. There  are  at  present,  stages  to  carry  the 
passengers  through  the  pine  forests  to  St.  Augus- 
tine. The  ride,  to  a  lover  of  nature,  is  charming, 
and  not  by  any  means  monotonous.  The  whole 
distance  is  garlanded  by  flowers  of  every  variety 
— lilies,  honeysuckles,  azelias,  sunllowers,  and  a 
thousand  varieties  of  small  flowers  which  enamel 
the  ground.  Through  forests  of  pine  on  the  luxu- 
rious hummuck  land  of  green  oak  magnolia,  here 

1  o  7 


56  SAINT   AUGUSTINE. 

and  there  you  may  see  the  milk-white  heron  float- 
ing in  the  cloudless  azure  vault,  looking  like  a 
messenger  angel  bearing  glad  tidings  to  earth  ; 
now  and  then  a  startled  deer  scudding  away  from 
the  appearance  of  man — and  to  those  who  can 
appreciate  all  these  beauties,  the  ride  is  delight- 
ful. But  the  generality  of  travellers  are  intent 
upon  getting  there  and  nothing  else  ;  therefore, 
a  railroad  would  convert  the  eighteen  miles  into 
nine,  and  an  uncomfortable  stage  carriage  into  a 
comfortable  railroad  car. 

It  is  therefore  to  be  hoped  that  very  shortly 
a  rail  for  these  few  miles  will  be  established,  and 
there  is  no  doubt  it  would  be  a  profitable  venture 
for  Northern  speculators  to  unite  St.  Augustine 
with  New  York,  with  only  one  change,  in  a  space 
of  time  of  four  or  five  days;  so  that  persons 
snowed  up  in  New  York,  shivering  through  their 
furs,  having  their  extremities  pinched  blue  and 
red,  and  all  sorts  of  unbecoming  colors;  tor- 
mented with  colds  in  the  head,  bidding  defiance 
to  troches,  caudle,  and  Dr.  Brown's  lozenges,  etc., 
eto. — sueh  persons  have  only  to  put  themselves 
comfortably  to  bed  in  one  of  the  excellent  steamers, 
take  rather  a  long  nap,  and  awake  inhaling  the 
perfume  of  the  orange  blossom  and  the  golden 
fruit,  hanging  in  rich  clusters,  ready  to  be  plucked 

.-iii<1  eaten. 

Wrapped  to  the  eyes  in  mufflers,  the  half-be- 
numbed traveller  pioneers  his  way  to  the  steamer 


SAINT    AUGUSTINE.  57 

wharf  at  New  York,  now  over  hillocks  of  drifted 
snow,  now  through  slushy  swamps  of  melted 
ditto ;  a  bleak  north-east  wind  is  whistling 
through  the  blocks  of  buildings,  which  look  black 
and  dreary,  as  if  they  too  suffered  from  the  bitter 
cold.  Every  one  he  meets  is  huddling  himself 
together  to  keep  all  the  little  warmth  he  has  in 
his  body  from  escaping.  The  very  animals  stand- 
ing to  be  burdened  or  unloaded,  have  on  them  a 
look  as  if  they  had  now  once  for  all  resigned  all 
hope  of  ever  feeling  comfortable  again. 

The  steamer,  when  reached,  is  coated  and 
clothed  and  draped  with  ice  and  icicles ;  all  her 
spars  ai*e  slippery  with  ice,  her  rigging  and  ropes 
stiff  and  festooned  in  ice ;  she  is  united  to  every 
thing  round  about  her  with  ice,  and  when  she 
moves  there  will  be  a  terrible  smashing  and 
crashing  and  bursting  asunder  of  icy  bonds. 
She  looks  as  dreary  as  ever  a  ship  can  look, 
and  of  the  captain  there  is  nothing  whatever  to 
be  seen  or  understood  but  his  eyes ;  a  great 
fur  cap  and  cape  join  with  his  beard  and  conceal 
his  nose  and  mouth,  and  a  coat  of  similar  material 
disguises  the  rest  of  his  person.  You  discover 
that  this  furry,  hairy  animal  is  the  captain,  from 
hearing  clcai-,  distinct  orders  issue  from  thence. 
How  surprised  you  are  two  days  after,  when  you 
are  greeted  by  a  pleasant,  fair-faced,  white  waist- 
coated  individual,  straw  hat  in  hand,  "  Fine  day, 
ma'am  ;  making  sixteen  knots,"  and  find  it  to  be 


58  SAINT    AUGUSTINE. 

the  captain  come  out  of  his  shell  or  rather  his 
furry  skin.  You,  too,  have  done  the  same  if  you 
had  one,  and  are  watching  the  porpoises  play  and 
bask  in  the  sun,  running  in  past  the  famous  Fort 
Sumter  at  Charleston,  where  the  roses  hang 
heavy  on  their  stems,  and  where  you  are  soon 
eating  pineapple  and  mangoes.  Any  one  who 
has  experienced  this  rapid  contrast  will  never 
forget  the  delight  of  the  sensation,  the  sudden  re- 
lief from  wearisome  precautions  against  cold — 
the  speedy  exit  of  the  enemy  who  has  held  us  in 
durance  vile  and  siege  of  his  bitter  fangs  for  so 
long;  of  the  release  of  the  respiratory  organs, 
which  begin  to  exert  their  functions  without  a 
conscious  effort ;  of  the  feeling  of  exhilaration  and 
happiness,  and  the  bound  of  enjoymenl  whicb 
transports  the  whole  existence. 

This  rapid  change  of  climate  from  mid-winter 
in  New  York  to  Florida,  is  one  of  the  most  aston- 
ishing effects  of  Steam.  We  know  the  enormous 
distance  we  have  come  from  the  change  in  the 
atmosphere,  and  thus  realize  the  annihilation  of 
space  by  science.  This  short  space  of  rail  from 
St.  Augustine  to  Pioolata,  would  enable  her  to 
send  her  early  fruits  and  vegetables  to  New  York 

and  Other  northern  towns,  in  the  same  manner  as 
Jacksonville  and  IYniandina,  at  least  six  weeks 
earlier,-  peas,  potatoes,  tomatoes,  grapes,  oranges, 

cucumbers,  ami  every  vegetable  which  will  bear 
carriage.     England  is  supplied  in  this  way   from 


SAINT   AUGUSTINE.  59 

France,  Holland,  Belgium,  with  fruit  and  vege- 
tables, a  month  earlier  than  she  can  produce  them ; 
and  there  is  a  much  greater  eagerness  to  possess 
things  in  a  hurry  in  America,  than  England.  The 
northern  cities  of  America  would  pay  any  price 
to  obtain  any  thing  a  little  before  the  natural 
course  of  time  —  in  fact,  to  "  hurry  up "  the 
seasons. 

In  speaking  of  Florida  as  a  slip  of  land  pro- 
jecting from  the  American  continent,  it  will  be 
curious  to  English  readers  to  know  that  Florida 
is  about  the  exact  length  and  breadth  of  England 
and  Scotland,  together !  with  a  magnificent  river, 
the  St.  Johns,  flowing  through  the  length,  for 
about  three  hundred  miles,  when  it  is  met  by  the 
Indian  river;  thus  forming  a  national  high-road 
through  the  rich  and  luxuriant  country. 

A  great  river  is  one  of  the  greatest  blessings 
to  a  new  country.  It  is  the  "  providential  high- 
way," which  needs  no  macadamizing;  a  railroad, 
without  the  trouble  of  laying  down  the  rails.  It 
also  supplies  rations  gratis  in  its  fish.  In  the  St. 
Johns  is  splendid  fishing  for  bass,  cat-fish,  perch, 
and  other  fish.  Wild  fowl  abound.  The  stately 
pelican  floats  on  its  broad  waters,  and  the  sea-gulls 
skim  the  air. 


ADDENDA. 

THE    WAY    TO    GET   THERE  ;    HOTELS,    ETC. 

From  New  York,  travellers  have  the  choice  of  three 
conveyances,  viz. : 

I.  Railroad,  via  Washington,  Richmond,  and  Charles- 
ton or  Savannah ;  and  thence  by  steamer  to  St.  Johns 
River  :  or  railroad  direct  to  Jacksonville,  Florida. 

II.  By  steamer  to  Charleston;  and  thence  by  the 
St.  Johns  River  steamers  to  Jacksonville  and  Picolata, 
via  Savannah.  Fare  to  Charleston,  $15.  Through 
tickets  to  Picolata  may  be  obtained  at  a  cheaper  rate. 

N.  B.— In  this  way  tho  traveller  has  the  advantage 
of  seeing  Charleston  and  its  surroundings,  and  of  resting 
there  perhaps  one  or  two  days. 

III.  By  steamer  to  Savaxxaii;  and  thence  by  tho 
same  line  of  Florida  steamers  as  from  Charleston — as 
they  touch  at  Savannah.  There  are  two  lines,  so  that 
there  is  a  steamer  every  other  day.  Livingston  Fox  & 
Co.,  88  Liberty  street,  are  the  agents. 

The  steamers  now  running  from  Charleston  to  East 
Florida  via  Savannah,  Fernandina,  Jacksonville  to  Pa- 
latka,  are  the  City  Point  and  Dictator ;  and  those  from  Sa- 
vannah arc  tho  Lizzy  Baker  and  St.  Mary's.  All  of  those 
boats  are  of  good  size  with  all  tho  comfort  of  the 
North  River  steamers  of  New  York. 

The  fare  to  Palatka,  the  head  of  navigation  for  these 
steamers,  Prom  Savannah  is  about  *H>.  From  Charleston 
$15. 

The  route  from  the  Northern  States  to  Florida  is  not  at 
all  difficult.     One  can  take  a  steamship  every  other  day 


ADDENDA.  61 

in  the  week  from  the  city  of  New  York  direct  to  Savan- 
nah or  Charleston  and  then  continue  the  journey  to 
East  Florida  on  a  smaller  class  of  steamers.  Through 
tickets  can  be  purchased  in  New  York  to  Palatka  on  the 
St.  Johns  Eiver  for  $33T7^.  Five  days  time  is  suffi- 
cient to  finish  the  journey.  Or  if  any  one  desires  to 
take  a  land  route,  through  tickets  can  be  obtained  from 
New  York  by  rail  to  Jacksonville  ;  where  the  Savannah 
and  Charleston  steamers  call  two  or  three  times  a  week, 
to  land  and  receive  passergers  for  St.  Johns  Paver. 

To  reach  St.  Augustine,  through  tickets  should  bo 
purchased  to  Picolata,  and  from  thence  take  the  stage  18 
miles  at  a  cost  of  $3  or  $4  to  the  ancient  city. 

The  largest  town  on  the  St.  Johns  Eiver  is  Jackson- 
ville, which  is  located  some  25  miles  above  the  mouth, 
and  the  next  town  of  importance  is  Palatka,  a  very 
pleasant  place  about  65  miles  south  of  the  former. 

Enterprise  is  considered  the  head  of  navigation  for 
St.  Johns  Eiver  steamboats,  and  is  about  200  miles  from 
the  mouth  of  the  river.  The  fare  from  Jacksonville  to 
enterprise  is  about  $7.     (Two  boats  a  week,  via.  Palatka.) 

The  Magnolia  House  and  the  Florida  House  are  the 
principal  hotels  at  St.  Augustine,  and  these  are  moder- 
ately comfortable — charges  from  $15  per  week;  but 
the  are  a  number  of  fairly  kept  boarding-houses  in  the 
place,  which  are  well  patronized  by  strangers  during  the 
winter  season.  Essential  improvements  in  the  hotels  are 
promised  for  the  season  of  1868— 9.  The  Florida  House 
is  to  be  in  charge  of  a  host  who  "knows  how  to  keep  a 
hotel,"  from  a  northern  city. 

At  Jacksonville  there  are  a  number  of  hotels,  and 
they  have  just  got  a  charter  from  the  legislature  to  build 
one  on  a  large  scale. 


02  ADDENDA. 

At  Palatka  there  is  a  population  of  about  1,000  ;  and 
they  also  have  a  charter  for  an  extensive  hotel  and  park. 
There  are  two  large  hotels,  the  Putnam  House,  and  St. 
Johns  House,  both  of  which  have  the  reputation  of  being 
as  well  kept  as  any  hotels  in  the  South.  This  place 
is  famous  for  orange-groves. 

At  Enterprise  there  is  a  large  hotel  which  is  hand- 
somely situated  on  the  Lake  Shore.  There  is  a  hotel  at 
nibernia,  and  one  at  Green  Cove  Spring,  both  being 
romantic  situations  on  the  bank  of  the  River  St.  Johns 
between  Jacksonville  and  Palatka. 

The  prices  of  board  at  all  the  public  and  private 
houses  named,  range  from  $8  to  $25  per  week. 

The  colored  population  in  the  Eastern  part  of  the 
State  and  in  the  towns  mentioned,  is  quite  small  compar- 
ed to  other  parts  of  the  South,  for  the  reason  that  the 
St.  Johns  River  country  is  newly  settled,  the  lands  bor- 
dering on  its  bauks  not  being  suitable  for  the  culture  of 
cotton,  and  only  adapted  to  the  cultivation  of  vegetables 
and  fruit.  Hence,  of  late  there  has  been  almost  a  mania 
for  orange  groves,  and  now  there  can  be  seen  thousands 
of  orange  trees  recently  planted  out  on  the  river,  by 
Northern  as  well  ns  Southern  settlers,  all  of  whom  seem 
to  toil  side  by  side,  and  try  to  forget,  in  the  charms  of 
tho  climate  and  amidst  their  beautiful  groves,  that  there 
had  ever  been  trouble  between  their  respective  sections 
of  country. 

No  Northern  visitor  to  Florida  should  fail  to  mako 
the  round  trip  up  the  St.  John's  River,  as  far  as  Enter- 
prise. 

Invalids  returning  North  should  graduate  the  change 
of  climate  by  stopping  for  a  time  at  Aiken,  S.  0. 


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